


Defeating the Boss

by boblemon



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-31
Updated: 2014-02-05
Packaged: 2018-01-10 02:16:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 37,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1153568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boblemon/pseuds/boblemon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aiba is finally able to land a job...and along with it, a boss that ignores his existence. What's he going to do about it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Game Start

**Author's Note:**

> Office AU for astrangerenters on Livejournal, who donated to the Fund-Raising Project for the Habagat Victims last year oh geez. Thanks to r_tenou for looking over it for me. Originally posted on my livejournal community [here](http://saigo-no-lady.livejournal.com/35409.html), but the AO3 version is slightly edited for grammar purposes.

_His grandma was sick. The whole family was tight on money, and working side by side with his parents at the restaurant wasn’t going to cut it anymore. He needed a job. It didn’t matter what or where it was, but he needed one as soon as possible._

_“Why don’t you check this place out?” Touma had said one late night, sliding that life-changing business card across the table. “The owner is a friend of mine. I’m sure he’d help you out with something.”_

Hatenai Sora Inc _. it had said. Aiba looked the card over and felt somehow relieved._

_“Thank you, Touma. You’re a good friend.”_

+++

The address had led him to a small, second story office in a generic building. There had been no receptionist, and if Aiba hadn’t been so confident in Touma and desperate for a job, he might have just turned around and feigned a mistake to escape the awkward atmosphere he walked into.

Partitioned walls were used around the wide room to make a few smaller cubicles, and there were all sorts of chords strung across the floor. It took Aiba clearing his throat and asking if anyone was around before a head popped over the top of one of the half sized partitions.

“Yes?” the man answered curiously, a blank expression of surprise on his face.

“I’m here about a job. My friend—“ As the first few words left Aiba’s mouth, a second head popped up in the back of the room to watch him, an expression of amazement this time.

The first man jerked a little, then forced a smile. “One second please.” He shuffled something that was no doubt on a desk out of sight, then straightened up and walked out into the center of the room to face Aiba. Although the employee was wearing a dress shirt and tie, Aiba had a feeling that he was over-dressed for the atmosphere of the office.

The second man followed curiously, wearing a much more casual and chic outfit, lagging behind and just watching. Aiba was beginning to feel as if there wasn’t actually a job to be found here, and Touma had just given him the only help he could think of.

“Nino, did you hear that?” The first man called out--although he didn’t have to raise his voice much--and turned slightly towards the back corner of the room.

“Geez, yeah,” another voice came, and a new head popped up from where the question had been directed. Aiba glanced over at him too, wondering if he was the boss or something. “You could have just turned him away, Sho-chan.”

‘Sho-chan’ looked caught off guard by the comment and frowned. “We’ve never had someone come in here asking for a job before! I didn’t know what to say!”

“That’s _your_ job, Nino,” were the first words from the chic man, and the way he said it coupled with his bushy furrowed eyebrows made Aiba think he was just a little scary.

“Fine,” Nino complained with a huff, and raised his arms to lean against the top of the short wall in front of him. He was wearing a simple t-shirt, the most casual clothing of the three. “What’s your name?” he finally addressed Aiba directly.

Even though Aiba was sure he was just going to get turned away, the extra few seconds before the rejection allowed him to steel his resolve. “Aiba Masaki,” he answered confidently.

“Aiba-san, who is this friend of yours?” Nino asked politely, although his expression was half bored.

“Ikuta Touma,” came the next reply. But the name didn’t seem to hold any weight with the other man, and instead Nino sighed dramatically.

Suddenly another head popped up, right next to Nino’s. “Touma-kun?” the tanned employee asked with an inquisitive tone, glancing at Aiba first and then over at Nino. “He hasn’t come around in a while, has he?”

The scary man looked at the pair and relaxed a bit before half-smirking, and Aiba decided that maybe he was only a _little_ scary. “Nope. We should call him and go out for yakiniku or something, eh Ohno-kun?”

“Yeah, that would be fun,” Ohno replied dreamily, resting his head against Nino’s shoulder.

“Well, as I was saying,” Nino broke in firmly, “We don’t need anyone else here. I’m not sure why Touma sent you.”

Aiba knew that he had to sell himself somehow or risk another failure in his long list of job searching. He would believe in Touma and that promising feeling he had gotten as soon as he had seen that card.

“There must be _something_ ,” he started to argue (since it wasn’t like Nino had said that they couldn’t afford another employee).

“Aiba-san,” Nino cut in with an airy voice that felt sharper than the tone would otherwise suggest. “Do you even know what kind of company we’re running here?”

“Video game development,” he replied promptly. It wasn’t like he was going to show up _that_ unprepared! (Okay, so maybe at the first five jobs he had been caught in that same trap, but at least Touma had talked about his friend the video game developer _before_ Aiba had been desperate for a job.)

“That’s correct.” Aiba was sure that Nino’s expression meant he’d been hoping for a wrong answer so he could properly make fun of him. “So see, it’s my company. I design the video games with Oh-chan here,” he patted the man next to him on the shoulder. “And format them with Sho-chan over there,” he added next, pointing to the man that had greeted Aiba first. “Then Jun does the testing.” Jun was obviously the _little bit_ scary man, who was watching him again, albeit with a much more entertained expression.

There was a pause in which Aiba read what Nino wanted him to: _We don’t need anything else_.

It was Aiba’s turn to furrow his brows, and he glanced down at his hands for a moment while he thought of what could possibly be here for him.

Then he looked straight back at Nino, body thrumming with desperation to win him over. “I’m super creative! My mom is always telling me—“

“Oh-chan’s all the creative I need,” Nino interrupted, but he looked amused that Aiba was at least trying, and his eyes spoke a challenge.

“I can file papers—“

“Sho-chan does that as a hobby,” Nino countered, but a smile was slowly forming on his lips.

“Hey!” Sho broke in, but Aiba wasn’t about to back down.

“I make a mean cup of coffee—“

That one caused Nino to laugh, but he tilted his head towards the eyebrow man. “If Jun didn’t make the best coffee in the world, I wouldn’t have kept him around for so long,” he teased, but Jun just shook his head good-naturedly.

“I can do massages!” It was the end of Aiba’s list, but there was too much momentum for him to stop before he realized how ridiculous he was being, and he had a feeling they were going somewhere. Maybe.

Especially if the way Nino was laughing with his head thrown back was anything to go by.

But then again, finding Aiba funny and giving him a job were two rather different things.

When he finally calmed down, Nino looked over at him with crinkled eyes and asked, “Massages, huh?”

Aiba was just about to fall into a dialogue about how Touma had declared his massages good enough to die for when Jun spoke in a light voice. “Come on Nino. We could use a gopher, couldn’t we?”

“Gopher…?” Aiba asked under his breath. Well, he didn’t mind a job like that, as long as he got paid.

“We _could_ use an extra set of hands around here,” Sho agreed with a warm smile, then added for Aiba in a lowered voice, “Nino’s very strict, just so you know.”

“Not strict, _efficient_!” Nino corrected, pretending to be exasperated, then shrugged and pushed himself off the wall to turn back to whatever he’d been doing. “Jun, give the gopher some money to go buy us lunch. I feel like eating out today.”

That was how Aiba’s new job began.

+++

It wasn’t Nino that took charge of the position that had been created for Aiba, but Sho. On that first day, they had agreed on a schedule and salary, and Sho had pulled out an unused seat from another part of the office and set it up for Aiba at the corner of his desk. Aiba promised he knew how to use a computer, but after three hours of trial and error, they finally decided that he could take care of the office supplies part of the budget and nothing else. Aiba was a little deflated, but after Sho said he would train him in entering data when there was time, he bounced back right away, just like he always did.

“Sho-chan, would you like another cup of coffee?” Aiba offered as he stretched his arms over his head with a sigh. They’d been busy for a few hours, and it was definitely time for a break—and some exploring. There were still so many places to see around the office!

“Ah, that’s so kind of you Aiba-kun,” Sho replied with a smile. Aiba took that as confirmation and stood up eagerly, glancing around as the rest of the room came into view.

“Oh no you don’t!” he heard behind him, so Aiba turned around with a confused expression and met Jun’s glare over the partitions. “No one touches my coffee pot.”

“Jun-kun?” Aiba asked, trying to remember his name.

“Matsumoto Jun. Matsumoto-san to you.”

Although he was still a little intimidated by him, Aiba couldn’t help but smile at Jun’s aggression, mostly because he had begun to see the kindness hiding underneath it.

“Matsumoto-san, how about a cup of coffee?” he chuckled, then started towards the small kitchen area without waiting for a reply. As expected, Jun huffed after him, still doing his best to put on a prickly air.

The two of them worked in silence, Aiba pulling out the coffee cups and going out of his way to let Jun handle the making coffee part, and it wasn’t until the brown liquid was dripping slowly into the glass pot and they had nothing to do but wait that a conversation was started.

“Matsumoto-san? Do you have anything that you need help with? Like Sho-chan?”

“Why are you calling him Sho-chan already?” Jun replied with an irritated voice. “You only met him this morning.”

“Sho-chan doesn’t mind. Do you Sho-chan?” Aiba asked in a raised voice so that it would carry—although he hadn’t really needed to. The room was small enough that everyone could probably hear them without any problem.

“Not at all,” Sho replied with amusement, although he wasn’t visible from his seated position in the cubicle.

After making an annoyed noise, Jun turned back to the coffee pot and pointedly ignored him. Aiba wasn’t one to give up though.

“What does a gopher do anyway? I won’t be busy just buying food and making coffee all day,” he tried in a conversational tone. It must have been a better topic, because Jun relaxed a little and responded easily.

“Well it doesn’t seem like you’ll be much help to Sho-kun.” It wasn’t surprising that Jun had heard them as they worked—Nino and Ohno must have too.

“I guess I’m not so good with that kind of stuff,” Aiba said good-naturedly, rubbing the back of his head and leaning against the counter.

“Do you play videogames?”

Aiba perked up right away. “Yes. Of course. Who doesn’t?”

Jun glanced over at him and fought an amused smile trying to break out on his lips.

“I might be able to find some work for you. It’s pretty boring testing the same scene over and over with different characters or items. If you can do passable work, I’ll let you help me sometimes.”

“Matsujun! Thank you!”

This time Jun really did smile, but he looked away shyly first before hitting Aiba’s shoulder playfully. “Don’t give me stupid nicknames, Aibaka.”

“Then don’t give me stupid ones!” he laughed back, hitting him similarly in return. They shared an amused look between them, and Aiba was glad that he had been right about Jun after all.

“Hey,” Aiba said, lowering his voice and moving closer so that Jun could hear him properly (and hopefully no one else). “Can I ask for some advice?”

Jun’s expression turned serious and a little eager to help. “What is it?”

“I mean, it’s not like my job has any guidelines, right? Since it was created today or whatever.”

“That’s right. So?”

“So, I mean. What time should I go home tonight? Should I stay late?”

For a second Jun looked relieved at the topic and his expression relaxed. “Ah, stuff like that doesn’t matter around here. We can ask Nino, but I’m sure you can just leave right at five every day.”

“Are you sure?” Aiba felt grateful for the opportunity to have a job in the first place and wanted to prove himself in any way he could. Going home before everyone else would be rude.

“Of course. But you know tonight, we should go out! To celebrate,” Jun grinned. “That way you won’t feel weird if all of us leave together.”

Aiba felt elated at the mere suggestion. Having never worked a serious job before, he had never experienced a welcome party either. “Is that okay?”

“I’ll even sneak it onto the budget sheet,” Jun whispered.

“I heard that! Where’s my coffee?” Nino’s voice sounded from the corner that he hadn’t left all day, followed by a chuckle from Ohno.

“It’s coming!” Jun said in annoyance, then added under his breath, “Slave driver.” Aiba laughed because the affection in his voice was obvious.

+++

Aiba wondered if his initial impression of Nino had been wrong, though Aiba was actually very good at reading people. He should have added that to his resume.

Nino had seemed like an easy-going, lazy-but-motivated type of person that got along well with others easily. After all, he’d given Aiba the job without too much arguing, and openly reveled in the affection he got from Sho, Jun, and Ohno.

Something was off, though, when it came to Aiba.

“Thank you so much, Nino-san! You have no idea how much this means to me,” Aiba gushed happily as they waited for their first rounds of beer. They’d all left the office together to celebrate Aiba’s first day of work, although it was obvious it was just an excuse to get together for dinner. (Aiba didn’t mind.)

“No problem,” came the light reply, but Nino blatantly ignored Aiba’s hand, which was extended for a handshake. Instead Nino reached over Ohno and began passing out chopsticks to the rest of the table.

Aiba wasn’t affected at all by the reaction, figuring Nino was just shy. Aiba could easily get to shy people, it just took a little time, and they hadn’t really had a chance to talk this morning like he’d done with Jun and Sho. Because of that, he was going to make full use of his welcome party to get on his boss’ good side.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said we needed another pair of hands around the office,” Sho broke in, trying to expand the conversation to the rest of the table. “It might take a few days to get used to things, but even if it’s just odds and ends, anything will help.”

“Yeah, I’m sick of always being pushed around by this jerk,” Jun added, indicating Nino with a flick of his hand. Nino stuck his tongue out at him and Aiba smiled. “I had to be the gopher before you, despite having just as much work as Sho does!”

“Well, _Ohno’s_ not going to be the gopher, and _I’m_ not going to be the gopher,” Nino replied. “And Sho takes too long to do those things, so it’s more efficient if it’s you.”

Jun opened his mouth to argue back with his eyebrows furrowed, but Aiba broke in laughing just as Ohno plainly said, “It doesn’t matter anymore, right? Aiba-kun’s here now.”

Jun glared at him next, then at Nino again, and now Sho was laughing too. That made Jun’s face turn red.

“And the grand prize goes to Jun for making Ohno speak for the first time in the last six hours!” Nino declared grandly, and with the perfect timing he accepted the beers from the waitress and handed Jun the first one. “A toast to his accomplishment!”

“You mean a toast to our newest office arrival!” Jun threw back, then turned to suddenly smile at Aiba, who returned the expression.

“Fine,” Nino sighed, glancing at Aiba as well. “A toast to Aiba-san, the newest employee of Hatenai Sora Inc.,” he amended with less enthusiasm.

“Cheers!” they all said at the same time, clinking glasses together before chugging the alcohol at various lengths and speeds.

Aiba drained half of his in one go, as did Sho. Nino and Ohno only took a quick swallow, while Jun took several in succession, leaving his glass almost as empty as Aiba’s.

“Ah,” Jun let out with an expression that said he was in heaven. “It tastes good doesn’t it? It’s been so long since we’ve all been out together,” he said cheerfully, looking around the table. Aiba hoped that they would have events like these often because he could already tell that he loved work gatherings despite this being his first one.

“I guess the last time was after that company put in a bid for our game,” Sho replied just as enthusiastically, and turned to Jun, who responded straight away, commenting on how drunk Sho had gotten.

Watching them talk for a minute, Aiba’s curiosity got the better of him, and he turned to Nino again, trying to make conversation.

“You know, Touma told me about you a long time ago! I couldn’t believe his friend from school actually _makes_ video games.” Aiba’s voice was a little low as to not interrupt Sho and Jun, and he leaned towards Nino a little, not missing the way that Nino averted his eyes and shifted towards Ohno in turn. “I really wanted to meet you, but never got the chance until now.”

“That’s nice,” Nino responded evenly, then called to the waitress for another round of beers.

But Aiba wasn’t giving up.

“You must have worked so hard to get thing this far,” Aiba paused to take a swig of his beer since there were new ones on the way, then smiled his blinding smile at Nino (who wasn’t even looking). “You must be a really incredible person.”

Aiba only noticed because he was staring, but Nino’s ears were blushing pink and that was one reason for Aiba not to give up hope.  Already feeling a little tipsy, he reached out to pat his boss on the shoulder lightly.

“Nino-san I really want to—“

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t touch me so casually Aiba-san,” Nino snipped, brushing his arm off his shoulder and scooting closer to Ohno so that they were practically flush against each other. Ohno didn’t look at all affected by what was happening around him and took another sip of his beer. Across the table he met Aiba’s gaze and smiled slightly as if you say, _don’t let this bother you_.

Thankfully Jun came to the rescue and saved the awkward atmosphere, teasing Aiba for drinking so much already when they had barely gotten started. This ended up in Aiba challenging him to who could finish first and both of them downing what was left in their glasses with Sho right behind them. Nino chuckled at their game for a brief second and that made things better.

+++

Although he was somewhat hung over, Aiba did his best to get out of bed and was at the office a full five minutes before the time that Sho had “suggested” the night before. He wasn’t surprised to find Sho there already, typing away at his computer with his desk full of papers, but he _was_ surprised to find Nino in the back room, playing the game that Jun had explained about last night. It was their latest project, one that was already in the final stages and that they were doing their best to wrap up before the end of the year.

Watching Nino work from the entryway of the cubicle, Aiba waited for the right timing before asking, “Nino-san? How about some coffee?”

Nino didn’t bother to turn around, but said, “That would be lovely, Aiba-kun,” in a grateful voice.

After placing his bag down next to his chair in Sho’s office, he strode into the kitchen area and started up the coffee maker just like Jun had done yesterday. As the coffee dripped, Aiba prepared Sho’s and Nino’s cups (the one he’d brought for himself was still in his bag, so he’d have to wait a few more minutes, but that wasn’t a big deal). Then when Jun burst through the front door with his eyes only half open, Aiba pulled out his mug too.

As Jun stomped towards his cubicle, complaining that Nino had made him drink too much— _again—_ Aiba poured the coffees, and turned just in time as Jun came up behind him.

Right as Jun opened his mouth, Aiba held up the mug and thrust it into his hand. Jun took it automatically and looked down at the steaming liquid in surprise, but quickly took a deep drink.

“Ah. Thank you. That’s what I needed.”

“Have some more,” Aiba grinned, holding Jun’s cup steady as he refilled it.

“Wait. You touched my coffee maker.”

“And you didn’t have to wait for the coffee to be made,” Nino chimed in, approached the two of them from the center of the room. “And _I_ didn’t have to listen to you bitch and groan about it not working faster,” he added, taking his own coffee when Aiba handed it to him. He immediately took a sip, then turned back around and retreated into his videogame lair.

“I guess it’s okay,” Jun said begrudgingly as he looked down at his coffee and took another deep swig.

Aiba just smiled, and collected Sho’s mug, heading back to his desk.

“Here you go, Sho-chan,” he said as he sat down in his office chair, placing it in Sho’s hand when he blindly reached for it.

“Ah, it’s so nice to have coffee this early. Usually we have to wait until Jun is satisfied,” he teased back, and Jun _hmph_ ed at them as he walked past their open doorway on his way to his own office.

Aiba didn’t reply, just smiled and paused a second before asking, “Hey, Sho-chan? Do you mind if I put up some decorations in my workspace?” Although he had never had his own office before, Aiba was sure the first step to take was making it as homey as possible.

Finally Sho looked over at him directly with a blank expression and blinked once before asking, “You mean like there?” he asked, pointing to the wall on Aiba’s other side.

“Sure. Is that okay? I totally understand if it’s not, because we’re sharing and all and I—“

“It’s no problem, Aiba-kun. It’s just that the only stuff we’ve ever put up is either for the videogames, or Jun’s random fashion cut-outs.”

“They’re for inspiration!” came Jun’s voice from over the partitions, and Aiba giggled silently, sharing a knowing look with Sho.

With permission given, Sho went back to his computer and Aiba pulled his bag into his lap, determined to decorate before he had to start on anything serious. He had prepared several pictures in his drunken state last night, but he hadn’t made any mistakes; first a picture of his family from last year when his little brother had gotten married, and then a few pictures of his pets (well more like seven or eight, but that was only because he had so many).

Last was a picture they had taken together last night. Aiba had been so exceedingly pleased with his welcome party that he had printed it off without a second thought. Now it seemed a little silly putting it up under the photo of his pet monkey, but Aiba didn’t let that stop him. Besides, Sho didn’t notice, since he was still typing away at his computer.

Once he was finished, Aiba pulled out his own personal mug and walked back to the pot of coffee. Ohno was the only one that hadn’t arrived yet, but Aiba wasn’t sure when that would happen, since it was his first morning there and all.  But he wanted to be prepared, so he set Ohno’s cup on the counter before pouring his own and returning to the shared cubicle.

“Hey, Sho-chan?” he asked, leaning against the partition. “When’s Oh-chan coming?” After last night Aiba felt completely comfortable with his new set of nicknames, all except for Nino who, despite getting somewhat tipsy, didn’t say much to Aiba at all. Aiba wasn’t sure what to think of that, other than his boss was just a little introverted, since Aiba’s charms seemed to work on even the shiest people. Something wasn’t matching with them, but Aiba was confident that it would give sooner or later.

“Hmm, Ohno often doesn’t show up until the afternoon,” Sho replied without looking away from his computer. “Nino just lets him do as he pleases, since it’s more effort to pin him down than Nino cares to put out.”

“Oh, okay,” Aiba shrugged and settled down into his chair with his coffee, holding it up to his nose for a delicious sniff before taking a sip of it. “So what should I do today? Want me to help you with something?”

At the suggestion Sho shifted his eyes to look at him warily before schooling his expression and grinning nervously. “I don’t have anything right now, Aiba-kun. Maybe you could take Jun up on his testing offer?”

Although Aiba did indeed realize that Sho just didn’t want him messing anything up, he smiled at the suggestion and nodded. After taking another gulp of his coffee, he sat it in the corner on his side of the desk and stood up without wasting any more time. “I will! Let me know if you think of something!” he added before cheerfully bouncing out of the cubicle and over to Jun’s. There was an empty one between the two offices, but it was full of haphazardly stacked boxes and rolled up posters, and even if they had offered it to Aiba for his own use he would have refused. Sharing one was much better.

Across from the empty cubicle was another one that seemed like it might belong to Nino, if only because of the Mario statue on the desk, but the room didn’t seem to be used much. The Lair was next door and across from Jun’s, so Aiba glanced in there to find Nino in the same position as that morning, nestled into a small worn armchair with a controller in his hands. Aiba wasn’t sure what he was doing besides just playing the current game, but he imagined they had to do a lot of that.

“Hi Jun! I came to help you,” Aiba greeted as he turned around, poking his head through the doorway and glancing around Jun’s space, since he hadn’t seem much of it yet. There were two computer monitors side by side on the desk, but instead of using them, Jun was reviewing a page of notes on a notepad.

“I heard,” he grumbled, then sighed without looking up at him. “Get a chair.”

Aiba bounced back to his cubicle and rolled his office chair back with him, sitting down in the empty space next to Jun at his desk, watching him with bright eyes and waiting for further directions. They didn’t come right away, so he got a little distracted and began looking around at all the clippings that had been put up on the cubicle walls, amusing himself until Jun was ready.

Most of them were of chic male fashion models in various styles of clothes (suits, jeans, scarves, even something that looked like a dress). As Aiba’s eyes shifted from the top of the collage towards the bottom--right in front of him in his seated position--the genre changed a little. There were a few animated clippings along with more medieval looking fashions, and they had notes written next to most of them in what was probably Jun’s handwriting. Farther on and next to Jun’s computer monitor were four white pages of character designs with notes in several different handwritings. Aiba had to look closer, wondering if Jun could actually draw that well. Although the style was very unique, Aiba thought they were amazing, and they must have been for this videogame, if what he’d seen Nino playing was anything to go by.

Aiba’s eyes wandered a little farther and he noticed there was one small picture stuck up behind the monitors, and at first he thought that was strange, since no one could see it back there! But then he craned his head a bit and realized that Jun could see it from where he was sitting. Curious, he stood up and hooked his chin over Jun’s shoulder, then smiled when he realized what it was. It was a photo—the only real photo here—of Jun and Sho sitting side by side and smiling at the camera together. The background looked similar to the restaurant they’d been at last night, so Aiba didn’t think his choice of decoration in his own space was that strange anymore.

“Don’t look at that!” Jun suddenly realized what Aiba was doing and pushed him back in embarrassment. It was the most awake yet that Jun had looked that morning.

“What? Your picture of—“

Jun pressed his hand over Aiba’s mouth and furrowed his brows rather intimidatingly—which would have worked yesterday, but after last night Aiba didn’t think he could think of Jun as scary ever again. “Everyone can hear you,” he whispered—actually more just mouthed the words, but Aiba got the message, smiling and nodding his understanding.

“Now,” Jun huffed, still acting a bit upset as he retracted his hands, “We need to make a copy of this checklist for you first, then I’ll explain what you need to be looking for while we test the newest weapon.”

“Okay,” Aiba grinned, barely able to contain himself, hoping he’d be more help to Jun than he’d been to Sho.

+++

True to Sho’s words, Ohno came in exactly in time for lunch.

Aiba spent several hours before that with Jun, learning how to play the game in the first place, and then what he was supposed to be looking for to test. It seemed to be going better than the paperwork with Sho had, and Jun’s job was definitely more fun—although Aiba could certainly see how playing the same area over and over again could get boring. But if there were other people around it wouldn’t be so bad.

They kept at it until it was time for the lunch break, and then Jun decided that they would eat take out again.

“Honestly, Nino’s stingy,” Jun told him as they finished up their last battle. “We usually all bring our own lunches because he won’t put it on the budget. Although we _each deserve it with all the work he makes us do_ ,” he raised his voice a little to make sure Nino could hear them, and Aiba couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Well, I don’t mind, I could buy a bento for myself today—“

“No, no,” Jun argued, although Aiba suspected he had more motives than just being polite. “We forgot to tell you yesterday, and besides, Nino never brings anything anyway. Unless I go buy something for him, he doesn’t eat at all,” Jun continued and Aiba turned a bit more alert, worried to know that his new boss wasn’t taking care of himself.

“I eat dinner,” Nino replied across from them.

“Only if someone leaves it for you!” Jun grumbled, and finally pulled out his checklist to review their last few minutes of gameplay.

“What are you, my mother?”

“ _Someone_ has to take care of you.”

Aiba leaned back to look through the doorways, but he couldn’t see Nino from where he was at. He turned back to his own sheet and stared at it without really processing what he was supposed to be doing.

“So, we’ll just get takeout today,” Jun said in a finalized voice, “And put it on the budget. If you remember, please bring a lunch starting tomorrow, Aiba-kun. If not, there’s plenty of time for you to go out and buy something for yourself like Sho does.”

“There’s no arguing with him when he gets this way.” Nino was suddenly leaning in the doorway, looking at Aiba as he spoke, then shifted his attention to Jun, who was glaring at him half-heartedly. “I suppose one more day wouldn’t hurt that much. But I’m taking it out of the coffee allotment.”

At that comment, Jun stood up with a sigh and placed his hands on his hips, facing Nino menacingly. “You won’t. I’ll make sure that Sho takes care of it properly.”

Nino shifted his head to look past Jun and to Aiba again, smirking. “Told you. No arguing with him when he gets this way.”

“Don’t mess with my coffee,” Jun ended the conversation, then turned back to Aiba, who stood up with a smile at the bickering pair. “There’s a nice soba place down the street.”

Nino smiled at Jun knowingly, and Jun pretended to ignore him.

+++

Aiba didn’t get it until he had made it there and back with the order Jun had written out for him (because Nino was picky about his food, and it would take time before Aiba knew everything he didn’t like).

“Here’s yours Sho-chan! The biggest size they had,” Aiba smiled, pulling the box out of the plastic bag and handing it over to the other man, who turned to glance at him curiously before his expression turned into pure delight.

“Soba? My favorite!” he cooed, gingerly taking the box and smilingly brightly. Aiba couldn’t help but smile back, remembering Nino’s knowing expression earlier.

“Jun suggested it,” Aiba explained because he thought it was important to, but Jun was behind him, pushily turning him around with a slight pout and taking the second bag from him hand with more force than necessary.

“Thank you!” Sho turned to Jun with his delighted face, and Jun immediately melted, smiling shyly and nodding before escaping to the back with the two boxes for him and Nino.

Aiba set his own food onto the open desk next to Sho (who moved over some of the scattered papers that had multiplied since Aiba had left that morning), and started for the kitchen with Ohno’s food, which he had gotten just in case.

“No need for that,” came a quiet voice behind him, and Aiba jumped just a little before he swung around and found Ohno standing in the main doorway of the office. “I’ll take it now.”

“Oh-chan!”

“Good morning, Aiba-chan.”

“It’s afternoon,” Sho corrected with a chuckle, leaning back in his chair to look at them through his cubicle door.

“Good afternoon, Sho-chan,” Ohno replied with a small grin, then took the last box out of Aiba’s hands and made his way for Sho’s office.

Aiba grinned and grabbed an extra folding chair from the corner before following Ohno.

“It looks very nice in here,” Ohno was commenting, glancing around at the new pictures as Aiba came up behind him.

“Thank you!” He unfolded the chair and put it down next to his own in the corner, even though there was barely enough room for all three of them at the mid-sized desk.

Without any words exchanged, Ohno sat down and opened his lunch box, still looking around, and now that Sho wasn’t distracted with his work, he seemed to be examining the photos too. Aiba squeezed into his chair and took the lid off of his lunch set, feeling quite comfortable and content with how his new job was turning out.

Ohno dug into the soba right along with him, then snorted out a laugh when his eyes fell on the picture of the five of them together. “Is that from last night?” He turned to Aiba with twinkling eyes.

“Yep! It’s a good picture, right?” Aiba had rounded up the waitress to take it for them, and even though they were all quite drunk, they were smiling and all clustered close together, even if they hadn’t needed to be. Jun was on the end next to Sho with Nino in the middle. Ohno was on Nino’s other side with an arm around his shoulder while Aiba kneeled behind them all with a wide grin on his face.

“I look so drunk!” Sho commented incredulously, his mouth half open and hand poised to eat his lunch.

“You were,” Ohno replied slowly, but rather gleefully. He smiled widely as he glanced over at Sho’s embarrassed expression, then took a big bite of soba.

“Only because _Nino_ ,” he tried to defend himself, “kept ordering more rounds of beer!”

“He always does that,” Ohno snickered back.

“Do you go out drinking a lot?” Aiba asked excitedly, mostly because the best group he had for that was Touma and sometimes Kame, from his old baseball team. It was exciting to think he had drinking buddies from work now, too.

“When we have time.” Sho was positively beaming happiness with his mouth half full, and Aiba couldn’t help but catch the emotion. Maybe there had been a reason that he had ended up here after all.

“I want to go too! Next time can I go?” he asked, even if the answer was already obvious.

“Of course, Aiba-kun! You’re a part of the team after all!”

+++

After their lunch hour was over, Aiba took some mail to the post office and ran a few errands outside. By the time he was back, Jun had made a new pot of coffee and finished with the better part of his testing work, so Aiba spent the last few hours before five reviewing his new receipts and making notes on what he had helped Jun with earlier.

When it was time to leave, he made a round of the office to satisfy his guilt, thanking Jun for earlier, and wishing Ohno and Nino (who had moved to the floor in front of the large TV) a good night.

He probably should have asked Nino instead, but Aiba found himself standing in the doorway of Sho’s office with his bag slung over his shoulder.

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yes, Aiba-kun,” Sho laughed with a soft smile. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Aiba returned the smile awkwardly but took the opportunity before he lingered too long. “Okay. Goodnight!”

He arrived home a train ride later, and found his mother right away, where she was tidying the kitchen before the dinner rush of customers. Just like the previous day, she wanted to know every detail about his office work, and he didn’t mind sharing it with her. When the orders started building up, he pulled his apron off the hook and jumped right into the thick of things as they continued their conversation.

“So you see, mom, I’m pretty sure that Jun-kun has a crush on Sho-chan, but just is too shy to say anything! But Sho-chan seems like a nice enough guy that even if things didn’t work out that—oops!” He was interrupted as the pot of soup he’d been handling threatened to boil over.

By the time he had it under control, his mother had already started in on a wave of advice that really didn’t do anything to help from Aiba’s place in the relationship, but he listened anyway. That topic turned into a long side-tracked story of his brother’s wife, and Aiba stopped paying attention halfway through, letting his mind wander. Which wasn’t a problem, since he was left alone in the kitchen to finish up the last orders of the night, while his parents started shutting things down in the front.

The rest of the mabo-dofu and kaarage would make a nice bento for tomorrow, so he set it aside and wondered if it would be too personal to invite the others over for dinner sometime. He didn’t think so, but then again he still wasn’t sure where he stood with Nino at the moment, whether they were any closer than when Aiba had taken his first step into the office.  As usual, he’d gotten Sho, Jun, and Ohno to warm up to him with no effort at all. But it was inevitable that Nino would warm up to him too, eventually. Even if Aiba didn’t try (and he did try) it was impossible for anyone to really dislike him. He hoped Nino wasn’t trying to keep distance between them on purpose.

But things like that didn’t matter much to Aiba. He was the sort of person who did what he wanted to without worrying too much about consequences.

+++

On his third day of work Aiba showed up right on time. Just like before, Sho was typing away at his computer and Nino was already in the back playing videogames when he came in, and Aiba had just poured coffee for each of them when Jun came storming through the front door. Jun looked perfect as usual, all except for the sleep bags under his eyes. After dumping his shoulder bag in his office, he marched over to Aiba just as Aiba turned with a steaming cup of coffee for him.

Jun gave him a steely look but immediately took the cup and announced, “Just because I let Aiba use the coffee maker doesn’t mean the rest of you can.”

There was dead silence as he walked back to his cubicle, and Aiba couldn’t help but watch him with a smile, then snickered to himself as he poured his own cup of coffee.

The morning went smoothly after that; Sho put him off again, so he joined Jun in testing the last of the items in the game. They picked up the conversation easily between the two of them as they worked, chatting nonstop into the afternoon. Of course Aiba couldn’t talk about what he really wanted to with the other ears in the room listening, but there were more than enough topics for them to go through, first and foremost the baseball game from last night. They discussed players and the current series until Aiba was sidetracked and started talking about a movie he’d seen last week, which turned into another long conversation. Ohno arrived somewhere in the middle of it all, but he just waved sleepily at them as he passed by, going into The Lair directly across from Jun’s office. Nino gave Ohno a light greeting, but otherwise their conversation wasn’t interrupted at all.

“Ah, I really wanted to see that one!” Jun whined, leaning back in his chair and making it squeak slightly. His eyes were still glued to one of his monitors, where he was battling against Aiba on multiplayer mode, the very last of their checks for that section.

“I was so surprised at the end!” Aiba replied, his mouth ahead of his mind as usual. “Hey, we should watch it together!” he added as he realized it was the perfect activity for their blossoming friendship. “We could _all_ watch it together, like a group party night!” It was be so much fun, just like their drinking, and a really good opportunity for Aiba to try to get Jun and Sho together!

Aiba’s eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm at the prospect as he looked at Jun, who was shaking his head good naturedly in return.

“Maybe as a celebration once we meet our deadline,” Jun said wryly, “Until then, Nino and Sho will be too busy, and me too into another week.”

There was a pause, and Aiba waited, since Jun looked rather thoughtful as he took his turn on the game.

“You know, we should go drinking before then,” Jun said carefully, glancing over. “I doubt anyone else will come, but if it’s okay…just me…” he trailed off and Aiba nodded back without hesitation.

“That would be fine!” Aiba was already grateful enough for the help he’d gotten from Jun, but he’d never had a work friend before and he was willing to do whatever it would take to make them here. “Just tell me when!”

Chuckling first, Jun nodded in relief and shifted his attention back to the screen to finish up, leaving the conversation at that and instead checking the clock in the corner. “It’s about time for a lunch break I think! Did you bring something today? Or do you—“

“No, I brought my own,” Aiba replied, then hesitated, biting his lip and suddenly feeling nervous for a reason he couldn’t place. “And I brought an extra one for Nino-san too.”

The surprised look on Jun’s face was enough to make Aiba laugh, if only he didn’t have such distracting butterflies in his stomach.

“Come again?”

“Well, you see my parents run a Chinese Restaurant and there were plenty of left-overs yesterday, and since you said Nino-san doesn’t bring his own…” Aiba’s voice got quieter until he was only mumbling his motives and shifting his eyes to the decorated wall.

Finally, after wasting several seconds he met Jun’s gaze and sent the silent question asking whether he was pushing boundaries or not. Jun managed a lopsided smile in return and patted Aiba’s shoulder in affirmation. “Even if Nino doesn’t appreciate it, know that I will.”

“I’ll eat it,” came Ohno’s voice, and this time Aiba managed to laugh naturally, putting aside his page of notes to stand as Nino made a mumbled reply and Ohno let out a grunt as if he’d been elbowed in the stomach. Aiba stretched his arms over his head and yawned, his body stiff from sitting in his chair for so long. With a nod from Jun to leave, Aiba headed to his shared cubicle, where the bentos were stored in a bag he’d brought with him.

Sho looked over as he came in, leaning back in his chair with a sigh and smiling lightly.

“Do you have a bento Sho-chan?” Aiba asked, suddenly realizing he hadn’t been thinking about any of the rest of them when he should have been.  Now it was even more suspicious that he had brought something for Nino. It wasn’t like he was trying to bribe him into liking him or something, he was just worried that Nino didn’t eat lunch was all.

“I bought one this morning, don’t worry,” Sho assured him easily, brushing off Aiba’s question. “Nino’s the only one that makes a habit of not eating around here.”

The statement made Aiba relieved and more anxious at the same time, so he busied himself with his bag, pulling out the two lunches, placing one at his usual space next to Sho and taking the other one in both hands. He paused a second to stare at it, then glanced over at Sho watching him. Aiba smiled awkwardly as he left the cubicle, and slowly walked towards The Lair, internally chiding himself for being worried that Nino was going to refuse his gift.

When he entered the room, Ohno turned to him curiously with his ever soft expression, but Nino continued to keep his eyes averted until Aiba was standing right next to him. When he finally turned to Aiba, Nino looked like he hadn’t heard the previous conversation at all, and shifted his line of sight to the box Aiba was holding out for him.

It took Aiba gesturing a little before he finally took it, and Aiba let out a breath of relief before backing up (just in case he changed his mind). Nino acted about as out of place as Aiba felt as he dropped his game remote in his lap to stare at the lunch, before pointedly placing it onto the table next to him, his intentions clear. He wasn’t going to even open it while Aiba was watching, and Aiba was too embarrassed for something like that anyway, so he left as quickly as possible to enjoy his own lunch break.

His face was burning and Sho was grinning from ear to ear, but Aiba pretended as if nothing extraordinary had happened and continued on with his day.

+++

An hour before Aiba was due to head home, he caught Ohno washing out the plastic bento box in the kitchen sink. Walking up to him easily, Aiba smiled unsurely and leaned against him—Oh-chan was just one of those people that you felt like you’d known forever even if it’d only been a few days.

“It was very good,” Ohno told him quietly, smiling as if it was only to himself as he rinsed the soap bubbles off of the lunch container.

There was an ache of doubt in the bottom of Aiba’s stomach as he wondered if that meant his feed-Nino-plan had been a failure and that Ohno had eaten everything.

“That’s good to hear. But you know, _I_ didn’t make it or anything it was just left-overs—“ Aiba explained quickly, even though that was sort of a lie because he may have made an extra batch of fried rice after everything was cleaned up at the restaurant just because he was short a second serving.

“I’d really like to see your family’s place,” Ohno told him with a crinkly grin and Aiba tried to relax. This was the opportunity he’d been looking for after all.

“You can come! Everyone can come!” He giggled lightly. “I’ll make a special course! No shrimp or mushrooms for Nino-san, and lots of beer for Sho-chan!”

“That would be nice,” Ohno replied dreamily, staring off into the space near the cabinet above their heads.

Aiba paused for a second, suddenly remembering that this wasn’t all about getting on Nino’s good side; he wanted to make friends with _everyone_ here and needed to adjust his thoughts accordingly.

“Hey, Oh-chan. Do you want me to bring you a lunch tomorrow too?”

That got the other man’s attention and he turned to him hopefully. “Really?”

“Sure. It’s the least I could do.”

“That would be great. Sharing with Nino is so much trouble,” he added, as if it had been his lunchbox in the first place.

A smile spread across Aiba’s face, both at Ohno’s cute attitude and the subtle hint that Nino had eaten some of it after all. “Leave it to me,” he promised, and grabbed a towel to dry off the bento box.

+++

“I’m sorry none of the others could come,” Jun teased as he poured each of them a glass of beer from the bottle, but Aiba just shook his head with a grin, ecstatic simply about a night out with a friend from work. They’d had to wait until the weekend to make the concrete plans, but Jun seemed just as determined as Aiba was to make it happen before they lost the opportunity. Maybe Jun was just as starved for socializing as Aiba was.

“It’s great that you weren’t too busy!” Aiba chuckled, and raised his beer to clink it against Jun’s. They both took a swig and Aiba let out a sigh of happiness. “It tastes good doesn’t it?”

Jun put down his glass too and agreed, “It’s been a long week. Besides who could disagree with that stupid way you’re smiling?”

Aiba felt himself blush, but only laughed since he knew exactly what stupid smile Jun was referring too.  “I can’t help it if I love my new job so much!”

That comment made Jun laugh this time and he finished his beer in a few swallows. Aiba was waiting to pour him another one, and as he did Jun commented, “I’m glad Nino decided to keep you.”

Aiba’s blush deepened at the thought of his new boss, but he decided to change the subject, not quite ready to breach the topic of office relationships at this point in the night. “I’m just lucky Touma told me to go in the first place!”

“How do you know Touma anyway?” Jun asked conversationally, leaning his elbows on the table. “I’ve been curious ever since you came in.”

“Oh, I’ve known him since we were kids! We went to the same elementary school together and played on the same little league team on weekend,” Aiba explained conversationally, then perked up at Jun’s shocked expression.

“No way! I didn’t think there was anyone that knew him longer than me and Nino! We all went to the same junior high and managed to keep up with each other on and off. Although, recently I haven’t seen him much. He used to come out drinking with everyone from the office, but we’ve been so busy, the only thing we’ve done together in the last year or so is your welcome party. We should’ve gotten Touma to come, even if it was last minute.”

“Next time for sure,” Aiba agreed. Touma had talked about Nino and Jun enough over the years that he knew how close they all were, and Aiba had always wanted to meet the friends Touma talked so much about. Aiba wondered how Touma acted around the two of them, if he was still as playful and teasing as he was around Aiba (he could only imagine Jun encouraging that).

“I can’t believe we’ve never met before. You didn’t go to our school, right?”

“Nope. Touma went to a new school and I stayed in the same area. But he’s made a habit of coming to my parents’ restaurant every once in a while—especially when he’s hungry.”

The two of them laughed together at the comment, and then got distracted when their food arrived.  They reorganized the table, dished out the entrees and refilled their beers before the conversation picked up again, this time from Aiba. “I used to see him at baseball games—even though we weren’t on the same team we were in the same region, so every once in a while we’d face off too.”

“Wait,” Jun suddenly broke in with a raised hand, his eyes widened in disbelief, “Wait, I think I remember you. At one game, the semi-finals when we were juniors, Touma introduced us to his friend—why didn’t I think of that before now?”

Aiba tried to think back, to remember that situation. Touma always seemed to be surrounded by people, just as social as Aiba always was, but there was one face that seemed familiar. As he realized how much Jun had changed in ten years, Aiba couldn’t help but grin, recalling the goofy young kid that had enthusiastically shaken his hand despite being on the opposite team.

“The ultimate hitter from Chiba that took his team all the way to the championship! When Touma said he knew you I couldn’t believe it. What happened? You weren’t there in the last game,” Jun asked excitedly, leaning forward with an eager expression.

There was a moment when Aiba felt a light pain in his chest, but he eased it away as he had learned to do over the years. Although, he couldn’t help himself from shifting in his chair, his smile failing a little bit. “Punctured one of my lungs over-doing it in practice. I couldn’t play any more after that,” he explained curtly. That short period in his life had been so hard, but Aiba wasn’t the type of person to give up, especially not with his family or so many close friends around.

Jun picked up on the mood and ducked his head in a silent apology. Aiba watched him, then smiled his stupid smile, letting his new friend know that nothing was wrong.

“So we _have_ met before,” he clarified as he finally started eating. “Do you still play now?”

Taking another sip of beer, Jun shook his head before adding, “Only messing around with Nino when he’s willing enough to come. He doesn’t like outdoors as much as he used to,” he smiled in amusement. “And he’s too busy now. His work comes first before everything, and while I can admire his ethic, I can’t help but worry about the idiot.”

“You two must be pretty close,” Aiba noted, feeling a bit jealous. If only he could talk to Nino as easily as he and Jun were talking right now.

“I’ve known him as long as Touma. Actually, I quit my job for him when he wanted to start his video game company and needed the extra help. I was doing _everything_ for the first year, testing and all of Sho’s job and putting up with Nino’s selfish demands day in and day out,” he complained, but despite Jun’s tone, it was obvious he wasn’t completely upset about it. “It wasn’t enough with just two of us.”

“Uh huh,” Aiba encouraged around a mouthful of steak. “So you found…?”

“Sho first. I don’t know how we got that lucky,” Jun laughed and took a drink of his beer before continuing with glazed eyes. “Nino made me pass out fliers at the college because he figured we could pay a student less for the same work that a professional would do. Of course no one was interested in a tiny videogame company of all things, and I’d finally gotten desperate just as Sho turned up… he was the only one that stopped to listen to me…” Jun trailed off.

Aiba waited, a warm feeling spreading through his chest at the story.

“We talked for a few minutes,” Jun seemed to come back to himself and focused on Aiba’s intense gaze, “And I… gave him my number and the flier. When he showed up in the office a few days later I thought it was a joke.”

Although that’s what Jun wrote it off as, Aiba, with the little knowledge of Sho that he had, knew there was another reason.

“I made Nino promise to give him a raise when we sold the game rights, but…” Jun suddenly laughed and rubbed his face distractedly as he remembered the situation. “All it took was me showing him what I had done with our bills and invoices and he was already obsessively working on fixing things. Nino wasn’t even going to pay him for the first day since that wasn’t part of the deal… Of course I made sure Sho was treated fairly, since he deserves it. _I_ just have to put up with Nino since it’s my friendly obligation,” he ended endearingly. “We wouldn’t be as far as we are now if it wasn’t for Sho-kun.”

It was such a sweet story, Aiba thought, and knew that Sho and Jun were just meant for each other. Now it was up to him to make sure _they_ saw that too.

“I’m sure Sho-chan feels the same way about you—“ he started to say, but Jun suddenly flushed and cut Aiba off by pouring him another glass of beer.

“And Oh-chan, well that was fate I guess,” the story continued hurriedly. “After Sho’d been with us a year, Nino was going to pitch his newest game idea but needed better art concepts than any of us could do. Same thing as before: he went to a small art studio—I made _him_ do it that time—looking for something quick and cheap, and found Ohno. He’s certainly cheap, but hates having a schedule and comes and goes as he pleases. I’m not sure what agreement they made, but Nino gives him his freedom and bribes him to come into work when he absolutely has to. And that’s just how it’s been for the last few years, until you came.”

“You all sound like amazing people,” Aiba commented enviously (although a little put out that Jun was avoiding the subject). If those were Ohno’s sketches in Jun’s office, then his talent was obvious, and Nino had built a company from scratch! Not to mention Sho running everything alongside Jun… Aiba was actually feeling like he didn’t have much to add to the company after all, and that made him twice as grateful that he’d been given a job in the first place.

“Even so—and I’m not agreeing with you although I’ll concede that Nino’s made it farther than I ever imagined and I’m lucky that Sho’s stuck around and Ohno, well he’s just—“ Jun started rambled before he realized it and took a deep breath to start over. “Anyway, we can’t run the company with four people, that’s what I’m saying. More than anything we need someone who can fill in the gaps—someone who’s good with people because God knows how many times Nino dug us into holes with his stinginess and spoiled attitude…” came the next set of rambling, and Aiba poured Jun another beer to keep him talking. Maybe he could subtly change the topic in his favor, even if Aiba had never been very good at being subtle. Either way, Jun was quite amusing this way, now that the others weren’t there to distract him. Aiba didn’t mind letting him talk all night if he wanted to, no matter the topic.

After a minute of half-nonsense about office politics, Jun finally managed to wrap up with, “What I mean to say is we need _you_ , Aiba, I just know it.”

“Thank you, Jun,” he replied sincerely, even if he wasn’t confident in his own value at their current workplace. Although he didn’t say it, Aiba was pretty sure he needed them more than they needed him. He wouldn’t have even known that want had he not been looking for a job in the first place.

It was a scary thought, to realize he may have never met any of these amazing people if things had been different.


	2. Pause

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiba is finally able to land a job...and along with it, a boss that ignores his existence. What's he going to do about it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Office AU for astrangerenters on Livejournal, who donated to the Fund-Raising Project for the Habagat Victims last year oh geez. Thanks to r_tenou for looking over it for me. Originally posted on my livejournal community [here](http://saigo-no-lady.livejournal.com/35733.html), but the AO3 version is slightly edited for grammar purposes.

Despite their long night of chatting, Aiba only realized when he was at home and lying in bed still mostly drunk, that he hadn’t succeeded in breaching the topic of office relationships with Jun at all. Not only had he wanted to give his friend a little push to approach Sho about it, but there was something else still bothering Aiba.

Nino.

He still hadn’t warmed up to Aiba’s presence over his second week of work. He refused to show Aiba the affection that he showed the other employees, although he was polite and accommodating. Jun had talked about Nino so warmly, but hadn’t mentioned that it might take time, or that Nino was shy with new people. The fact that he hadn’t said anything was strange, as if Jun hadn’t even realized the distance himself.

Maybe it was something else.

By any means, Aiba had missed his opportunity to ask for a while at least, since he knew Jun would be busy now along with the rest of them. And it wasn’t something that could be talked about in the office, so he bid his time. Instead of the advice he wanted, Aiba tried to plug along by himself, making Nino (and Ohno, and sometimes _everyone)_ lunch and starting a conversation when he could. It wasn’t getting very far, but at least Nino would respond in that snarky tone of his, and sometimes he’d even smile at Aiba before he caught himself and walked away.

Besides, Aiba was still convinced it was only a matter of time, and he didn’t want to push things too fast and get the opposite result.

“Ah, I’m never going to finish by tomorrow,” Sho mumbled to himself as he sat as his computer, and Aiba looked over from the review he had been writing for Jun.

“Sho-chan?” he asked tentatively, drawing the other man’s attention, and Sho looked startled like he hadn’t meant to say anything in the first place.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about Aiba-chan. I just wish I had an extra day to complete these reports before the meeting,” he sighed. “Even if I stay all night it won’t be enough to finish all the changes Nino added yesterday…”

“Could I help you?” Aiba offered tentatively, although he thought he already knew the answer.

“As I said, don’t worry about it. It would take longer to explain the details about the company than what you would make up for,” Sho said as gently as possible. Aiba had been there for over two weeks now, but that certainly wasn’t enough time for him to figure out details and that fact was quite obvious.

“Well… How about…” he started, then bit his tongue. It wasn’t his place to volunteer others for overtime, even if would work out the best for everyone.

Apparently Aiba had done enough though, because Jun was standing in the doorway with a determined look on his face, his voice equally determined. “But I know enough, don’t I?”

Sho’s twisted around to look at Jun with his mouth open in surprise.

“I couldn’t ask you to—“

“I’m offering. Besides, Aiba can do a bit of my work on my computer and save me a few hours later. Okay, Aiba-chan?”

Aiba nodded his head enthusiastically. “And I’ll bring over some food for dinner!”

“You don’t have to—“ Sho turned back to him now with a guilty look on his face, but between the other two men they didn’t let Sho get another word in.

“Come on, Aiba, I’ll show you what I need done—if you don’t mind.”

“No problem!” Aiba stood up. He was more than happy to put in his first overtime shift as long as it meant helping the others. Whether he got paid for it didn’t matter either.

+++

Twenty minutes later, Aiba was completely satisfied with his interference, once Jun had taken up Aiba’s chair next to Sho and the two of them began discussing the reports in lowered tones. They sounded so intimate and Aiba couldn’t help but smile to himself.

+++

After finishing what Jun had asked him to (which had taken him several hours, but he wouldn’t complain), Aiba made a trip home to help his mother close up the shop as usual. After that was finished he rounded up the remaining ingredients and threw together a few quick dishes—his mother’s cooking may have tasted better, but he wasn’t going to put any added stress on her if he could help it.

When he arrived back at the office, it was as he had left it; only half of the lights were lit and a “closed” sign hung on the door, despite it being unlocked. Aiba placed the boxes of food on the counter and put the drinks he’d purchased at the convenience store on the way over in the fridge. There were two drinks for everyone, the preferences he’d learned over the short span he’d been working here, plus a can of coffee each because he knew they’d be needing it. Two for Jun.

Actually, Aiba hadn’t known if Nino and Ohno would still be there when he came back, but he had prepared just in case and it turned out his intuition had been right. Inside The Lair, Ohno was dozing off in a pile of blankets on the floor, and Nino was looking tiny in his armchair with the bags under his eyes, highlighted in the light from the TV.

“Nino-san,” Aiba called out quietly. “I brought some dinner if you’re hungry.”

Nino blinked slowly as if he’d forgotten to for the last hour, then distractedly turned to Aiba and sighed like he was letting out some stress. “I guess it’s a good time for a break. Oh-chan, get up.”

Ohno didn’t move, even when a second later Nino pushed at him with his leg.

“Aiba brought food, get up,” he said with a little more force, and Aiba smiled before shuffling over to poke at Ohno himself.

“I like Aiba’s food,” Ohno finally mumbled with a cottony tone, turning onto his back and stretching. “Tastes good.”

“It’s better than that healthy crap Jun usually brings,” Nino conceded, standing up and stretching himself. Aiba couldn’t help but subtly watch him, hoping that the fact that Nino looked less thin than the first time Aiba’d seen him wasn’t just his imagination. The white t-shirt he was wearing slid up to show a flash of the flesh on his hip before Aiba averted his eyes back to Ohno.

“I brought coffee too,” he said, wondering where his place was in this little safe room they’d made.

“Thank you,” Nino offered casually, but there was something in his tone that was different from usual. There was sincerity that replaced the coldness, though maybe that was just due to exhaustion. Aiba didn’t know Nino well enough to tell specific things like that yet.

As Nino headed out of the cubicle and Aiba finally got Ohno standing up, he could hear the others begin talking when Nino poked his head into Sho’s office.

“How’s it coming? Room for a break?”

“Well…” Sho cleared his throat.

Ohno took Aiba’s hand naturally as he gained his balance, and the two of them slowly followed behind Nino, Ohno giving out a big yawn as Aiba watched, trying to stop himself from over-thinking things.

“I’m taking a break,” Nino stated as if that was the answer to everything. “To make my feet remember what circulation feels like.”

That got Sho to let out a laugh, and Jun mumbled that they might as well join him since things were going along smoothly and all. They all headed to the kitchen together as soon as Aiba and Ohno caught up, and stood around the counter together. Nino took the initiative and began passing out disposable plates and chopsticks.

Jun and Sho were standing rather close to each other, and once again Aiba wasn’t sure if it was just exhaustion that was making them less on edge, but part of him really wished he could get Jun alone to hear if he’d made any progress. Then again this wasn’t exactly the time for that with all of them pushing the deadline for tomorrow.

“This is a new one,” Ohno commented as he began indiscriminately dishing food onto his plate, and Aiba perked up, glad for a topic he felt more secure with.

“Well it’s not something on the menu, we just happened to have some leftover pumpkin tonight, so I thought I’d experiment and put it in a salad,” he explained, then giggled as Jun lifted an eyebrow at him.

“Pumpkin in a salad?” Nino teased. “What were you thinking?”

Aiba felt his head get a little lighter and he smiled at Nino—but not too much in case it scared him away again—and turned to the small fridge to begin passing out drinks.

“All of my experiments don’t turn out that well, but some of them do!” he argued. “My chocolate sushi was a huge hit last summer.”

“Chocolate…” Jun sounded appalled while Sho actually looked thoughtful, like he was considering it. Aiba liked that about him. Sho was willing to eat anything at least once.

“I am horrified,” Nino followed up, but his plate was half full the next time Aiba looked and he was eating it. Aiba couldn’t convey how happy he was to see Nino enjoying the cooking he’d created, and that should have been a sign right there. But Aiba was rather stupid about some things.

“Or the jelly-mabo-dofu,” Aiba added with a grin, waiting for their reaction. “That one wasn’t _too_ bad.”

“Interesting,” Sho got out in a low voice right before he started stuffing his face with food, and Jun shot him an incredulous look before realizing how close they were and turning away with a painfully plain expression.

But he didn’t move.

Aiba glanced over in time to see Nino watching Jun with as much amusement as Aiba was feeling, and then their eyes met just for a second before Aiba realized what had happened and he turned away too. It was because he didn’t want his boss to feel uncomfortable, that was all.

“Someone needs to keep an eye on you. Obviously Touma hasn’t been doing his job properly,” Jun commented to Aiba between bites of food—which he was also eating with a vengeance as if he’d been starved all day.

“Touma’s more likely to join _in,”_ Nino countered with a laugh and small squinted eyes. It was that moment that Aiba few his chest ache and he was worried for a second, wondering if his lungs were acting up again. That should have been the second sign. But after a moment he was back to normal so he didn’t give it another thought.

But at Nino’s comment he’d had a good idea. If Jun couldn’t give him advice right now about how to handle Nino, surely Touma could! He should have thought of it before. Besides, he hadn’t told him anything at all about working here, other than he’d got the job in the first place, and he was sure his old friend had some insights to his situation. _He’d_ be able to tell him all of Nino’s quirks, and he’d be less reserved about asking Touma than Jun.

It was settled then.

“You’re right,” Jun grinned with a measuring look at Aiba. “I don’t even want to know the trouble you two got into when you were younger.”

“It would give you nightmares,” Aiba teased back, feeling a bit more at ease than when he had walked into the office half an hour ago. Things were looking up again.

The group shared a polite laugh at the joke (except for Ohno, who was too focused on his food). Nino finished off the last bite of his dinner before sitting the plate on the counter and wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

“Better get back to work. Oh-chan, you can go home, there’s nothing left for you to do here.”

“But Nino—“ Ohno’s eyes suddenly shot up to stare at him, and it was the most attentive Ohno had looked all day.

“If you’re just going to sleep in my bed you might as well sleep in your own,” he said firmly, but with an edge of gentleness. “Aiba-san,” Nino turned to him next, “Thank you for dinner. Have Sho put it on the budget.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Aiba replied formally with a smile. “My treat.”

“If you say so,” Nino smirked as if that’s what he’d expected to happen, and Jun rolled his eyes.

“Should’ve let him put it on the budget. He won’t let you take it back now,” Jun commentated before drinking deeply from his bottle of mineral water.

“I really don’t mind,” Aiba told him as Nino turned to head back into The Lair. “I’ll leave the rest of the food here. You’re going to be here for a while… aren’t you?” Aiba asked tentatively, as if he didn’t really want them to, but that the situation couldn’t be helped.

“We will, but don’t worry about us, Aiba-chan,” Sho replied. “We really appreciate your help tonight.”

“We do,” Jun added with a smile. “Now you and Ohno get home and rest. We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay.” Aiba wished there was something more he could do, but at least he didn’t have to be a burden on top of the work load they already had. “Take care of Nino,” he added before he’d realized it wasn’t really his place to say something like that. As usual, his mouth was faster than his brain.

But Jun looked amused and Sho smiled.

“Don’t worry about that brat,” Jun assured him, then put his empty plate down on the counter as well. “We’d better get back to work too.”

“Okay. You can just leave this, I’ll clean up in the morning,” Aiba told them, gesturing to the mess on the counter. At least it would be easy for them to come back for a midnight snack. “Oh-chan, let’s go together?” he asked and Ohno nodded before lifting his plate to his mouth so he could finish his food in a few more bites.

Jun and Sho had both gone back to Sho’s cubicle by the time Aiba noticed, and while he waited for Ohno, Aiba straightened up the take-out boxes just to give himself something to do. His interactions with Nino tonight were leaving him very confused. They weren’t what he expected of a person who was simply coming over his shyness and becoming friendly with him. Although there was still a prickly protective edge about his words, something was coming through to the surface that Aiba couldn’t quite place.

“Let’s go Aiba-chan,” Ohno jolted him out of his daze, and Aiba nodded at him.

“There’s coffee in the fridge,” he called out as his final greeting as they headed for the door and it was Jun that responded first, as expected.

“Thank you. Get out of here already.”

Aiba grinned, but was secretly glad that Ohno was leaving along with him. It would have been too hard to go by himself while the rest of them were working so hard—even if he was only a gopher and had only been there two weeks.

It was silent as the pair walked out onto the street. It was already dark and probably past dinner time when he had arrived an hour before.

They walked to the station slowly, Aiba wondering what he should say, if he should say anything at all.

It came as a bit of a surprise to him when Ohno was the one to speak.

“Nino’s actually very kind. Too kind for his own good,” he said slowly, as if those words held some hidden meaning. Aiba tried to find it, but the only thing he could come up with was the fact that Nino hired him when he probably shouldn’t have.

“And Nino remembers a lot of things.”

They took several steps forward while Aiba pondered those words, but as they were reaching the station he gave up and said, “I don’t get it.”

“One day you will.”

+++

It was a different atmosphere that met him the next day, when Aiba came into the office at his regular time.

Nino was the same—sitting in his oversized chair in The Lair, only instead of playing a game it was paused and he had a stack of papers in his lap. He took the cup of coffee Aiba handed him without a word, or even a glance, and Aiba wondered if last night had really been exhaustion after all. Although, Nino looked just as exhausted now. And he was even wearing the same oversized t-shirt as yesterday.

It was Jun and Sho that were different.

Jun was in his own office when Aiba checked, but the shy glance that he sent him made Aiba do a double take, and once Jun had his full attention he gave Aiba a smile worth a million words. Words that Aiba couldn’t hear right now. There was internal cursing, but Aiba smiled back sincerely and went to fill up Jun’s cup of coffee.

He took Sho’s with him as well and dropped it off as he walked past. Sho was in a full suit today, and looked like he’d gotten _some_ sleep, and even grinned at Aiba as if everything had all been thanks to him.

“Good morning,” Aiba offered tentatively, uncomfortable with taking any gratitude from his co-workers. All he’d done was point out things that should have been obvious.

“Good morning, Aiba-chan.”

In replace of a continued conversation, Aiba raised Jun’s mug in explanation and got to Jun’s cubicle as fast as he could with wide eyes. Something had happened with the way these two were acting—they probably hadn’t slept much last night if they’d slept at all, plus they had a huge meeting in just a few hours. And Aiba hadn’t even brought in any special coffee or anything!

When Aiba looked to Jun for an explanation, he just shook with silent laughter at the expression. He raised his phone, opened to a blank message and pointed to the ‘send to’ address.

Jun took his coffee and Aiba typed in his information with a raised eyebrow. He knew they couldn’t really talk with everyone listening, but it must be pretty juicy if Jun couldn’t wait until they were alone to talk about it.

“Thank you,” Jun mumbled, taking the phone back. He turned away from Aiba pointedly, beginning to type out a message and Aiba sighed dramatically—all the while trying to keep a smile from his face. He acted as casual as possible as he strode back into Sho’s cubicle and sat down in his chair, trying not to draw attention to himself as he set his phone down in front of him and channeled patience.

After a minute he turned to Sho and asked in a soft voice, “So you finished?” not sure whether he was interrupting his work.

But Sho turned to him with another bright smile. “Last night. Nino’s looking over it now.”

“Great,” Aiba smiled back and then jerked his head towards his phone when it blinked in a new message. Luckily Sho let him be and turned back to his computer.

_Stayed at Sho’s last night since it’s closer to the office._   
_He has a DJ mixer it was heaven_

Aiba had to cover his mouth from blurting out a huge laugh, and ducked his head in apology when Sho’s curious gaze shifted to him.

“More coffee, Sho-chan?”

“Mine’s still full, thanks,” he replied, as if he couldn’t figure out why Aiba was offering. (The question was accurate, since he had just handed him the cup a few minutes ago, but Aiba wasn’t very good at making excuses either.)

“Well I guess I’ll go get some for me then,” Aiba chuckled nervously, standing up and escaping to the kitchen to write his own reply.

_I bet it was_   
_Did you even get any sleep_

Following up on his excuse, Aiba poured himself some coffee and sipped at it as he leaned against the counter.

_A couple hours._   
_Except he grinds his teeth when he sleeps._

Aiba had meant his question to be a joke, but Jun had replied seriously and he wasn’t sure whether that was to avoid the topic or because he wasn’t actually thinking of what Aiba had been implying. Either way it was cute.

_You were so watching him sleep_

His reply was more obvious this time, hoping for a better reaction.

_Was not! It woke me up._

The reason Jun was so happy this morning was quite obvious now, and he wasn’t trying to hide things anymore, so Aiba just took the plunge and teased him, hoping he wasn’t pushing it.

_You are so in love with him_

A reply didn’t come to that one, instead Jun actually stood up (Aiba could see him over the lowered partitions) and stomped into the kitchen with a red face. He hit Aiba over the head (Aiba was grinning from ear to ear the whole time), and then went right back into his office.

Sho stuck his head out of the doorway and looked at where Jun had just disappeared, and then to Aiba with a puzzled expression. Aiba just shrugged as innocently as he could and walked back towards him, reclaiming his place at the desk.

Luckily enough Sho didn’t push his curiosity about their office antics, and Aiba began sorting through the postal mail that had been left in the box downstairs. Fifteen minutes later his cell blinked in a message and he immediately picked it up to check it.

_It’s a secret_

Aiba smiled and shook his head at his phone. He would talk to Jun about this later, give him a pep talk about how high his chances were and that he should really go for it.

“Hey, Aiba-chan?”

The fact that Sho started talking to him while his thoughts were busy with their “secret” topic caught Aiba off guard and he flipped off his phone to give Sho his undivided attention (possibly with a guilty smile). “Yes?”

“You’re going to have to hold down the fort while we’re gone. Nino said he told Ohno not to come in today, since they couldn’t do any work.”

All of those obvious facts hadn’t connected to that conclusion until now, but Aiba was fine with that—and proud that they trusted him enough to do that kind of job.

“Yes, of course! I’ll do my best!”

“All you have to do is answer the phone if it rings, and take a message. I doubt anyone will come in to the office, but if they do, you can do the same thing. Just tell them we’ll be back in the afternoon. Usually we’d just close down for the day, but since you’re here Nino’s insisting on keeping it open.”

“Leave it to me!” Aiba said happily, and followed up with a silly saluting gesture.

“It’s the most productive option,” said Nino, who was suddenly standing in the doorway. “That’s the only reason. If anything goes wrong you’ll be taking full responsibility.” His tone was as cool as it had been from the beginning, as if he was indifferent to who it was actually watching over things; Aiba would have been the same as a pack of monkeys.

Aiba smiled anyway. “I’ll do my best,” he repeated with a smile at Nino, who turned away and continued to the front of the office.

“Don’t worry, we’re still closing early. After last night we all deserve it,” Sho told him, leaning back in his chair. “You can probably leave as soon as we come back from the meeting.”

“I’ll stay until you guys do,” Aiba assured him.

Before Sho could get out another altruistic response, Nino called out across the office.

“Jun, we have to leave in twenty minutes. If you make us late again because you have to do your makeup—“

“It was only foundation and it was only one time!” Jun yelled back, obviously embarrassed by the comment. “And because I had acne that day!”

“Just saying, better get moving to fix up that pretty face of yours.”

A sound of annoyance came from Jun’s office over the partitions, and Sho distractedly watched when Jun stormed past their doorway. Aiba leaned his elbow on the desk and rested his head on his palm, slouching.

“He doesn’t even need make-up to be pretty, huh Sho-chan?” he asked as indifferently as he could, and was pleased when Sho fell into his trap.

“I agree. He’s one of the prettiest—“ Sho started to automatically reply in his distraction, then caught himself and shifted his eyes to Aiba suspiciously.

“Just saying,” Aiba ended the conversation just in case things got awkward, and returned to his mail stack. “Anything else I need to know before you guys leave?”

“Not that I can think of…” Sho visibly relaxed and turned back to his computer, although he only looked at it thoughtfully. The question had diverted Sho’s attention back to his proper work ethics, and worry that something could go wrong while they were gone. “If you need to go out for any reason, you can just lock the front door while you’re away. The key’s over here…”

Sho stood up and directed Aiba into The Lair. Aiba hadn’t noticed before, but next to one of the zombie posters there was a small line of hooks on the wall, which held three keys in a row. One was rather small, and the other two looked almost identical, the kind of duplicates made at a key shop. Aiba wondered what they were for, but he supposed it couldn’t be anything too important if they were out here in the open. And there wasn’t much opportunity for them to be stolen, since someone was around all the time, particularly Nino who never left his little cave. This was the safest place for them in the office.

“It’s this one.” Sho indicated the twin key on the left. “The other one is for the storage shed in the back, but the only thing there now is Nino’s old broken computer.”

Although he wondered about that, Aiba politely nodded his head. Sho noticed and explained anyway.

“He’s too cheap to throw it out. I tried to fix it, but the motherboard is fried and it needs a new hard drive anyway. Despite that, he’s insisting that we use it for ‘parts’ even if the thing is from the previous decade,” Sho scoffed with one side of his lips twitching upwards. He took a few slow steps back out into the hallway as he talked, smoothing down the lapels of his suit.

Aiba nodded, but could share Sho’s feelings, and filed away another fact about his boss into the back of his mind. It was like a puzzle that he was trying to fit together with one more piece in place.

“Anyway, you won’t need to use that today. Just close up the shop if you have to leave, and take the key with you.”

“Okay. But I shouldn’t need to go out. I brought a lunch and everything.”

“There’s still some food from yesterday as well. Thanks again for that,” Sho commented, leaning against the wall next to Jun’s office more casually than Aiba had ever seen him. A little strange considering he was dressed up for the meeting, classier than usual.

It was then that both Jun and Nino walked back into the office. They had left through the front door a few minutes earlier and the reason was obvious now. Just like Sho, they were both in full suits, fitted and crisp as if they’d been freshly cleaned, Nino carrying his other shirt and jeans in his hands while Jun had a bag slung over his shoulder.

There was no denying that they both looked good. Before that moment Aiba hadn’t thought a suit would fit Nino with his perpetually messy hair and slouched back, but he had been proven wrong. It was cut to accent his slim waist, making his shoulders appear a little broader than Aiba knew they were, and the pants were tight at his hips.

It wasn’t until the two of them headed to a closet in the kitchen area to put their other clothes away that Aiba realized he’d been staring.

With probably the same expression that Sho had on his face right now.

Sho noticed Aiba’s attention on him and shifted uncomfortable—although Aiba could tell he’d noticed that they were in the same position. “Anyway, as I was saying…” Sho mumbled, turning to look into The Lair as if using that as a cover. “I’ll give you my cell phone number just in case,” he said after a moment, as if he couldn’t just leave things at that.

“Okay. Good luck at your meeting!” Aiba managed some enthusiasm despite feeling a bit off balanced by Nino. Again.

“Thanks. Shouldn’t be anything difficult. In fact it’ll probably be over with by noon,” Sho commented distractedly, his eyes automatically landing on Jun again. He watched him for a second, but as soon as Jun turned and caught him Sho asked, completely normal, “Ready to go?”

“Just let me grab my suitcase,” Jun replied, coming towards them, not noticing that anything unusual had transpired. He slipped into his office and Sho finally left Aiba’s side to get his own stuff.

To get to The Lair, Nino had to pass by Aiba, and Aiba couldn’t help but watch him, feeling a little nervous and on edge.

“Good luck, Nino-san.”

Nino looked at him briefly and made a curt noise to say he’d heard him.

It was better than nothing he supposed.

“Just like Sho said, it’s nothing to worry about. We got everything done, so now it’s just presenting it.” Jun came out of his office and patted Aiba on the shoulder with an easy smile. “I’m more worried about you getting bored here all by yourself.”

The comment made him laugh and he patted Jun back on the shoulder. “I’ll miss you guys,” Aiba replied dramatically, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.

Leave it to Jun to lighten Aiba’s mood.

“Idiot,” Jun laughed back, still as relaxed as when Aiba had come in that morning. “See you later,” was his final comment before heading towards the front door where Sho was already waiting. Nino came out right behind him, blatantly ignoring Aiba as he passed.

When Aiba saw them to the door, though, Nino addressed him with a firm stare.

“I’m serious when I say you’ll take full responsibility if something happens while we’re gone.”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Jun assured him before Aiba could, and he pushed Nino towards the door. “Come on, it’s time to go.”

Aiba watched them leave with conflicting feelings, then took a deep breath and looked around the empty and suddenly much lonelier office.

It was true, it wasn’t like he had anything to do here, no work of his own, but at least he could take a minute to calm down.

More than before, Nino’s attitude that morning left Aiba completely stunned. Last night he’d hoped that they were getting somewhere, but it must have just been sleep deprivation after all. Besides, Nino’s feelings were understandable—Aiba’d been working here less than a month and he was being left in charge of the company that Nino had built with his own sweat (well maybe just in charge of the physical part of the company). Nino had reason to be defensive, but that didn’t make things easier for Aiba.

He went back to his desk and pulled out his phone. There was only one person left to turn to at this point, and he was going home early after all.

+++

Touma had only laughed when he had explained the situation with Nino.

Their dinner in Aiba family’s half-empty restaurant had started with Aiba detailing how he’d gotten the job in the first place, his friendship with Jun, Sho, and Ohno, and had ended up with the real topic he’d wanted to discuss: his boss.

“I get this, I totally get it,” Touma said with a hearty grin, an ecstatic and triumphant expression on his face. “You hate that he doesn’t like you.”

“Wh-what?!” Aiba felt himself flush down to his collarbone. That was _not_ what’d he’d been expecting or hoping for.

“You’re the kind of person that needs people to like you. And Nino hasn’t warmed up to you yet so it’s driving you crazy. That’s what this is all about.”

Aiba actually gave that statement a thought. Indeed he was the kind of person that wanted people to like him, but he felt like this situation was a little deeper than that.

“That can’t be it…” he mumbled, shifting the food on his plate in distraction, pouting that Touma actually wasn’t helping him at all. He had just lost his last hope for finding a quick resolution.

“Listen, Aiba,” Touma sighed with that jaunty grin Touma was famous for. “I know Nino. He’s not the most social person, that’s true. But he’s not mean without a reason. I think you’re reading into this too much.”

That caused Aiba to frown.

It did feel like Nino was being mean to him when it wasn’t called for, but Aiba seemed to be the only person noticing that. Then again, _because_ no one else was noticing, it might just be inside of his head after all. Maybe his friend was right. He should let things be as they were instead of worrying so much about it. Just as he had been thinking all along, things would work themselves out in the end.

Nino had given him the job after all.

“Now, give me some more details about this thing with Jun and Sho…”

+++

The closed sign on the office was up when Aiba arrived at work.

The door was unlocked, though, so he tentatively walked inside, looking around at all of the lights off.

Sho wasn’t in his cubicle, his computer turned off, so Aiba set his bag down and walked to the back of the room. Jun wasn’t here either, so Aiba turned to The Lair, wondering what in the world was going on.

There on the floor, in the pile of blankets that Ohno had been sleeping in days before, was Nino. He was curled up on himself, his breath steady and mouth open a little, lips dry because of it.

Aiba was afraid to get too near, so he looked around again, making sure that no one else was here or had arrived, then took a step closer, leaning down to get a better look. If it had been anyone else he would have run for his phone to take an incriminating picture, but unfortunately he wasn’t on such lax terms with Nino.

Nino _was_ rather pretty wasn’t he? Just as much as Jun, only in the cute genre with his blunt nose and small chin decorated by his signature mole. If he had been the type, Nino could have played girls easily, making all of them fall for him and his well honed charms. Aiba wasn’t sure why, but he appreciated the fact that Nino was exactly as he was now, even if they weren’t quite getting along yet.

This would be a very embarrassing situation to get caught in by Jun, so Aiba looked around again before he squatted down next to Nino, wondering if he should wake him or not. He could probably use the sleep, since those bags under his eyes were still apparent.

But it was time for work, and Aiba wasn’t sure what to do without anyone else around…

He was still debating action in his head when Nino’s let out an uneven breath and barely shifted his body, his eyes moving a bit behind his eye lids.

Aiba found himself frozen in place, watching attentively until Nino cracked his eyes open and they focused on him, still slow with sleep.

“Ah, Aiba-san,” Nino said in a hoarse voice, then cleared his throat and pushed himself up on an elbow. “What’re you doing here? Didn’t Sho tell you everyone has the day off?”

“No,” Aiba replied stupidly, because he hadn’t been told.

Nino chuckled, but it sounded half-hearted and warped. He yawned before replying.

“Go home, Aiba. You’re not getting paid today.”

There it was, that tone that everyone else wasn’t picking up on. It made Aiba feel a little defensive.

“Why are you here then? If everyone has the day off.”

Nino rubbed his eye sleepily and Aiba felt his chest constrict again, enough that he almost clutched at his shirt but managed to contain himself at the last minute. Apparently Nino was bad for his health.

“Need to check a few things. It won’t take that long.”

“Then it’s okay if I stay until you’re done, right?” Aiba asked casually. More than anything he wanted to make sure that Nino was actually getting rest—the fact that he had been sleeping in the office and apparently made a habit out of it was appalling to Aiba and his need to take care of people. Part of him wondered if Nino even rented an apartment or anything, but he brushed that concern aside until another day.

At the suggestion Nino looked annoyed. “You’re not getting paid.”

Although it probably wasn’t, Aiba took it as Nino conceding to his suggestion, and smiled his stupid Aiba smile. “That’s fine with me, it won’t take that long, right? I’ll make you some coffee.”

Not waiting for a response, Aiba bounced up, feeling a little empowered by Nino’s aura of sleep (he wondered if that would last long) and left The Lair, flipping on the light in the hallway as he passed.

Nino grumbled behind him.

It was decided. He was going to make himself comfortable in Ohno’s place (Oh-chan surely wouldn’t mind) and just be together with Nino today. That should help their friendly-boss-and-subordinate-relationship move along quite nicely, Aiba thought.

Besides, he’d brought lunch for both of them as usual, and it would be a shame to let that go to waste.

After he’d taken care of usual routine (poured Nino the coffee, put his things away, check the mail on his desk, etc) Aiba picked up his cell phone and own coffee and returned to The Lair.

By then Nino had moved into his chair and turned the TV on, his game remote in one hand and mug in the other. He sent a suspicious look as Aiba waltzed past him and plopped down into the pile of blankets that Nino had been in a moment ago.

“Don’t sit there,” Nino complained, but his tone was half-hearted, so Aiba just made himself comfortable until his boss became more proactive about moving him. There was no one here for Nino to use against him, and Aiba figured that Nino didn’t think it was worth the effort to do it himself.

He was right. Ten minutes later Nino still hadn’t said anything else, just played through the first level of the game with a new item and glanced at Aiba out of the corner of his eye once in a while.

Validated in his decision, Aiba was finally the one to start the conversation, feeling quite satisfied with his plans for the day.

“But let’s have lunch before you go home, okay? Because otherwise you won’t eat anything, right?”

Aiba wasn’t stupid. He knew that Nino had been planning on spending the whole day here, and probably wouldn’t have eaten anything at all either. Which is why he had been lucky that Sho had forgotten to tell him (or, as he found out upon checking his phone, sent a message at a ridiculously late hour that barely made sense).

“You’re worse than Jun,” Nino grumbled, sliding down in his chair more than he already had been, keeping his eyes glued to the TV.

“Do you want some now? For breakfast?”

“Shut up.”

Aiba thought that ruffled Nino was rather cute, but he kept that to himself and snuggled further into the blankets.

+++

It had been easy to keep up the silence.

Aiba got distracted watching Nino play (both the screen and Nino’s face), and that was enough to keep his brain busy. It wasn’t until Nino had beaten the second boss and let out a big yawn that Aiba was jolted out of his daze and realized it had been several hours since he’d come in. His back was stiff from lying in the same position for so long, and eyes dry from his focused attention.

With a muffled grunt at his stiffness, Aiba pushed himself up, catching Nino as he turned to watch him.

“Lunch?” Aiba offered. It was a little early, but the timing seemed right.

“Whatever,” Nino sighed, placing the controller next to his empty coffee cup on the small table to his side and stretching his arms above his head.

Aiba got the lunches from his bag and came back immediately, handing one to Nino, who took it without a second thought. It was like they were back at that one special night a few days ago when Nino had complimented his cooking (sort of) and even teased him a little.

Trying not to be obvious, Aiba watched Nino as they ate. He tried to pick up signs that Nino had eaten his lunches before, just for confirmation, and so far that seemed to be the case; he knew right away how to open the clasp on the side, and methodically fixed the two containers on his lap as if it was a usual habit.

It wasn’t anything concrete, and maybe Aiba was just reading into things, but he smiled as he opened his own lunch.

“What?” Nino asked suspiciously, obviously noticing what Aiba’d been doing.

“Nothing.”

“Yeah right,” he replied with a scoff, but let the topic drop in favor of focusing on his lunch.

It was a prime chance to learn more about Nino, but Aiba didn’t even know where to start, what questions were the best to ask first.

“So… do you have any other hobbies, besides video games?” A bit lame, but the only thing that was coming out.

Nino narrowed his eyes at him, probably annoyed that he was prying into his life.

Aiba encouraged him with his bright I’m-very-interested-look, which tended to work well under normal circumstances.

Nino took a bite of fried rice and stared at the TV for a full minute before he finally sighed and tentatively replied, “Music…”

“Like singing?”

“…Piano and guitar. I don’t sing much.”

“I’d love to listen to you sometime—“

“I don’t perform,” Nino cut him off, as if he’d been asked to countless times before. “And I haven’t been practicing much lately,” he added and somehow that softened the previous statement a bit.

“Jun says everything around here is busy. It must be hard for you to do so much work every day!”

“Hm,” Nino mumbled back, and it didn’t sound like he was disagreeing with him. “We get by.”

“I’d be happy to help any way I can.” His grandma’s medical bills would be paid eventually, but Aiba had a feeling he wasn’t going to leave _Hatenai Sora Inc._ even when they were. Hopefully his parents would forgive him.

“Hm,” was all Nino offered again, but his expression relaxed as he stared down at his bento, focusing _too much_ on eating his lunch.

“Nino, why did you hire me?” Aiba suddenly asked, even though he hadn’t meant to. Just another case of his mouth running away on him, and for a second he regretted it.

That got his attention, and Nino’s head shot up to look at Aiba in mild surprise. But he schooled the expression and distracted his vision back to the TV.

“Spur of the moment is all. Jun’s fault.”

The half-assed answer hurt a bit, but Nino couldn’t be expected to bear the truth that carelessly.

“Well, I’m glad.”

Aiba didn’t want to lose the light atmosphere that was in the air by pressing his question, so he scarfed down the rest of his lunch and then took his bento to the kitchen to wash it out. It may have been a little cowardly of him to not face Nino head-on now that he was in uncertain territory, but his plan had been to take things one step at a time and he had already taken more than that from Nino today.

Another cup of coffee was in order, so Aiba started the machine before taking care of his lunch box, meticulously washing it out in the sink even though all it really needed was a quick once over. After that he went back into The Lair for his mug, pausing next to Nino for a moment, until the other man looked up at him.

“Coffee?” Aiba offered with a soft smile, and Nino seemed to realize he wasn’t about to be interrogated again. His face became lax and he reached for his cup, offering it to Aiba, and Aiba was happy to see that most of the lunch was gone too.

When Aiba came back with the coffee cups a few minutes later, Nino had finished everything and the empty box sitting on the table. Nino was rotating his neck to get rid of the stiffness and rubbing his fingers to prepare to return to gaming, and Aiba thought he looked very tired.

He knew exactly what Nino needed.

“How about a massage?” Aiba offered with an encouraging smile, remembering that he had put that on his list of things he was good at when he had come into the office for a job in the first place. It had been the tie breaker and he finally had a chance to prove his skills.

“I’m fine.” Nino’s answer was immediate and firm, but now that the idea had planted itself inside Aiba’s head, it was going to stay there until he followed through.

“I insist! You had a hard day yesterday! And it’s free, think of it that way.”

Aiba ignored Nino’s discomfort and set the two cups of coffee down by the empty lunch box before promptly getting behind Nino’s chair and placing his hands on his shoulders.

“I don’t really think this is appropriate—“ Nino got out in a nervous voice as he tried to wiggle away. But he didn’t stand up, so Aiba started to move his fingers into the tight muscles above Nino’s collarbone, and in the moment of uncertainty maneuvered Nino right where he wanted him.

“You’re really tense, just like I thought.” He could tell by the way Nino was straining his neck that it probably hurt a little, but Aiba knew that the pain would relax away in another minute or two, and it would keep Nino’s mouth closed in the meantime.

The t-shirt Nino was wearing was thin and a little worn, and Aiba could feel the warmth from his skin as plain as day through it. His fingers worked their way to the curve of Nino’s shoulder and then slid a few inches down his back to return towards his spine in a circle.

Nino loosened up eventually, but unlike most of his massage recipients, Nino was antsy even after that, moving his arms around every few seconds and arching his back when Aiba found that tender spot near his left shoulder blade.

“Ow, ow,” he finally gasped out with a hiss of breath, and Aiba softened his grip a bit. Although, instead of leaving it alone, he continued to work that piece of muscle with a little more technique, helping it un-tighten.

“It’s worse than I thought. Maybe you should lie down on the ground.”

Aiba thought his plan would be rejected right away, but Nino sounded a bit reluctant when he replied. “I… I was going to start back up on the game…”

It was if a magical switch had been pressed and suddenly Nino was putty in his hands. That tended to happen when Aiba gave massages; albeit this was the happiest he’d ever been for that particular talent.

“It will just be a few minutes,” Aiba assured him, and even went as far as to usher Nino off of the chair and to his pile of blankets.

“Are you-“ his question as cut off at his quick intake of breath. Before he could change his mind, Aiba had shoved him down and promptly went to work at his mid-back, where he knew he would be sore from his slouching and sitting all day.

His guess was spot-on, and Aiba smiled proudly (now that Nino couldn’t see) when Nino twitched again, revealing another sore area. Aiba’s fingers rocked back and forth against the muscle, making Nino’s t-shirt bunch up around his hips. When a sliver of skin could be seen above the waist of his pants, Aiba got a bit distracted watching it, but his fingers moved automatically, rubbing against his spinal cord next.

After that was the dip in his lower back, which was more pronounced than Aiba had been expecting. Everything was stiff there and would take a bit more time to finish than he was willing to take from Nino right now. He did what he could, starting off easy and then increasing the pressure second by second, rotating the tips of his fingers in small circles against his skin.

“Ah… Ah, Aiba-san,” Nino gasped out and that got his attention away from the bare skin laid out before him. His eyes shot up to Nino’s face as he turned onto his back and pushed Aiba away, his face flushed and lips red from panting. “Too much,” he commented, but Aiba wasn’t listening.

In that moment, things clicked.

Seeing Nino like that, venerable and sexy and _honest_ , was the last piece of the puzzle and Aiba realized he was an idiot. The reason Nino’s distance had bothered him, all of his overthinking and worries boiled down to one thing.

He was in love with Nino.

Completely, head over heels in love, and Aiba was an idiot for not seeing it until now.

+++

Aiba was the sort of person who listened to his own instincts and wants, rather than social norms or expectations.

So, when he should have excused himself and gone home to cool down, instead he stayed at the office with Nino, watching him play his next hour or two on the game.

“You’re being creepy,” Nino finally commented, referring to Aiba’s unwavering gaze on his face.

“Ah, sorry,” Aiba replied without much emotion backing his statement, and continued on as he had been, his eyes not leaving Nino. After his epiphany Nino had escaped back to his chair and Aiba hadn’t followed him (at least he’d had that much sense), instead spreading out on the blanket bed again, where he had a good view.

Most of the time was taken up looking back on the long list of signs that he was in love, which he had ignored or not noticed. Even though he was so caught up in Jun and Sho’s romance (or was that, _because_ ), he hadn’t guessed at all that that’s what he was going through with Nino.

The question was whether he was going to take his own advice and go for it like he wanted Jun to, or not.

He was leaning towards not right now.

After all he’d only been here a short time, and although Nino was far from forbidding relationships within the office, Aiba didn’t want to mess things up and lose his precarious job position so soon. Not only was he in love with his boss, but his boss was Nino, the man who had been avid about avoiding him despite the fact he had agreed to give him a job.

“Fine,” Nino sighed, dropping his controller onto his lap and raising his hands in exasperation. “I’ll go home. Happy?” His tone was half annoyance and half surrender, and he completely ignored Aiba as he picked up the controller to filter through to the save screen and shut the system down.

Although that hadn’t been his intention, Aiba supposed it was a good enough outcome. It was late afternoon, but earlier than Aiba even usually went home. Now if only he could be assured that Nino just wasn’t going to do the same thing once he got there and play video games for the rest of the night instead of resting like he should.

“Should I go with you?” Aiba offered before he really processed the statement and then blushed just as deeply as Nino did—although, Nino’s was probably anger.

“You _are_ worse than, Jun! Listen, Aiba-san, I am a grown man that can take care of myself, I will spend my free time as I like whether that is working or not!” he replied hotly, confirming Aiba’s suspicions, and Aiba may have gotten just a little worked up watching him be so passionate. “I built this company with my own hands and god be damned if I’m not going to take care of it—“

“I’m sorry,” Aiba said clearly and as sincerely as possibly, and bowed his head to prove his intent. “I didn’t mean it that way. You should know by now how much of an idiot I am.” He hoped that those words would lighten the mood, and at least they stopped Nino’s rant.

“You _are_ an idiot,” Nino grumbled, and Aiba wondered if Nino would ever know just how true that statement was.

Nino shot up out of his chair and began collecting his personal items, which had been haphazardly placed on the floor. After they were all tucked into his pockets or his shoulder bag he looked at Aiba pointedly with cold eyes and jerked his head towards the exit.

“Come on, you’re leaving too.”

“Yes, sir…” Aiba whined in his usual way without thinking about it. Touma called it his “lost puppy” look, and when Nino saw it his expression softened just barely.

“And not to my house. Go home.”

Aiba let out a laugh before he could stop it even though it was at the risk of Nino’s returned wrath, but Nino just rolled his eyes and leaned over to jerk the key off the wall. He didn’t even wait for Aiba to catch up before stomping out of the cubicle.

+++

Things went back to normal after that, despite Aiba’s revelation.

He came into the office every day like usual, and Nino mostly ignored him, like usual. Jun refused to take any action with Sho, so Aiba had begun wondering whether he shouldn’t start working on Sho instead. Then again, they were all still busy because of the goal to finish the game by the end of the year (they were already down to the last few months), and so Aiba couldn’t quite convince himself it was worth it with the current timing.

One thing he was convinced of, though, was that he had to make himself more useful. Not because he was afraid of getting fired, but because he could do _so much more_ for them, his friends and coworkers. He wanted to do more for them.

Instead, it seemed like Aiba was the one who continued to receive their help.

“Hey, Aiba-chan.”

Aiba turned away from the cupboard, where he had been putting away coffee and a few other items he’d gotten to refill the stock in the kitchen (it was mostly coffee). Jun was stretching as he came over from his cubicle, wearing his usual fashionable clothing: today a gray cardigan over a tight red shirt and fitted slacks.

“Do you have a minute?” he asked, holding back a yawn, and Aiba nodded. Actually he had been finished a moment ago, but he didn’t have anything else to do until he went home, so he’d been double checking everything. If Jun was going to distract him for even a few minutes he would welcome it.

“Sure!”

“Let’s get some fresh air, huh?” he grinned, and Aiba nodded encouragingly.

There was one other office on the second story, but Aiba had never seen it in use (there wasn’t even a name on the door). It was a moderately old building in general, including emergency escape stairs out back that were questionable at best, but good enough for a quick chat or smoke. Aiba didn’t smoke because of his lungs, and he had never seen any of the rest of them either, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t use the space as they saw fit.

So Jun led him out of the metal door to the fire escape, taking a deep breath as the crisp air fit their faces. Aiba wondered what he wanted to talk about, or if he really was just looking for a short break. If so, Aiba had plenty of questions and love lectures, although Jun might be sick of those by now.

Before he could say anything, Jun slipped his hand inside his cardigan and pulled out an envelope, looking at it thoughtfully before offering it to Aiba.

“What’s this?” he asked curiously, taking it from him. Although what was inside was clear, since the heavy coins were causing the envelope to bend sideways.

“Your paycheck. It’s the end of the month.”

“But…”

There were so many questions. Aiba thought that pay-checks usually came a full work-cycle behind, and the job he’d almost gotten before Touma had said it wasn’t going to give him his paycheck until he had worked there at least a full month. He’d been working for Hantenai Sora Inc. for barely over three weeks.

“I heard about your grandma from Touma. He said that’s why you were looking for a job in the first place.”

“But-“ Aiba tried to argue back, looking down at the envelope. He really didn’t deserve such kindness.

“Don’t worry, I talked it over with Sho and Nino. They said it was fine to give you an advance. It’s not really that much, after all. I even talked Nino into no interest.”

Without any warning Aiba’s eyes started tearing up and he sniffed before rubbing them away. “You guys are the best!”

Jun laughed first before patting him on the back. “It’s nothing.”

“No, really, this job is the best thing that’s happened to me,” Aiba declared. “You, and Sho-chan, and Nino, and Oh-chan, I don’t know what I would do without you guys now! You’re like my new family!” His tears were only getting worse despite his huge smile, and he continued trying to wipe them away and save himself some dignity. It was a good thing Jun brought him outside for this.

“Well, I do have something else I want to talk about,” admitted Jun with a slightly more serious tone. He turned to lean his back against the brick building and looked across the street, where they had a fabulous view of the back of a supermarket.

“What?” Aiba tried to sober up, but continued sniffing for another moment, wiping his nose on the back of his hand next, but finally able to calm down his breathing.

“Are you serious about working here long-term? Or only until things are taken care of with your grandma?”

Jun wasn’t looking at him, as if the answer would be one Jun didn’t want to hear.

Aiba sniffed again and took a deep breath. Although his head said he needed to think his reply over better, his heart told him was the ultimate answer would be. And he didn’t want to cause any more misery by telling Jun he needed to wait any longer.

“If you’ll keep me…” he replied tentatively, wiping his wet palm on his jeans, the envelope already crumpling in his other hand. “I know I’m pretty useless.”

At the answer, Jun turned to him with a gentle smile and clasped him on the shoulder. “You’re not, Aiba. You’ve done more than you realize.”

What that implied wasn’t obvious, but Aiba was happy to have some affirmation.

“I want to do more!”

“Okay, okay,” Jun laughed again. “I’ll see what can be done.”

Aiba beamed. “Thank you.”

They shared a content look between them, then Aiba glanced down at this envelope, trying to smooth it out with his other hand. He didn’t want to go back inside yet, because his eyes were probably red and his face a mess, so he hoped Jun would give him a moment to himself.

Except, Jun apparently had one more thing to talk about. He cleared his throat and suddenly his gentle expression turned stern.

“Now, tell me why does Touma know about Sho? It was supposed to be a secret!”

Aiba’s first reaction was to laugh, but he managed to cover his mouth at the last second. He wasn’t thinking at all when he had brought Touma into the situation, trying to figure out the most effective way to get the two men together. Touma hadn’t had much insight, but he had been amused at Jun’s crush.

That was a terrible thing to do, to break his promise to Jun! But by the look on Jun’s face, he was going to forgive him.

+++

The money had been put to use right away. When he’d given it to his mother and told her what’d happened, she’d cried harder than Aiba had, and didn’t hesitate to forgive him when he explained he wasn’t going to be quitting once they were caught up.


	3. Continue?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiba is finally able to land a job...and along with it, a boss that ignores his existence. What's he going to do about it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Office AU for astrangerenters on Livejournal, who donated to the Fund-Raising Project for the Habagat Victims last year oh geez. Thanks to r_tenou for looking over it for me. Originally posted on my livejournal community [here](http://saigo-no-lady.livejournal.com/36083.html), but the AO3 version is slightly edited for grammar purposes.

“The date for that dinner meeting with our buyers has been set,” Nino announced to the office one day, after he’d gone out into the hall to take a phone call. Jun stood up to look at him over the partitions, ignoring the game battle that he was in middle of with Aiba. Aiba had enough sense to press the pause button, then stood up too, wondering if this was important.  
  
Sho had poked up too, all of them staring at Nino at his place by the front door.  
  
“Three weeks. They’ll send us the confirmation by email, so I’ll forward it to you guys,” he explained casually, glancing at Sho and then Jun. His eyes landed on Aiba last. “You’re coming too.”  
  
“Me?” Aiba asked incredulously, his heart speeding up. Jun also seemed surprised, his mouth falling open partway.  
  
“Yes. You need to wear a suit,” Nino replied easily, then grimaced as he added, “Do you even own a suit?”  
  
“Yes,” Aiba assured him, his mind racing with questions and possibilities of being useful. “From my brother’s wedding—“  
  
“Good enough.” His tone was curt and he looked back at Jun. “You need to give him a crash course in just about everything.”  
  
“Me?!”  
  
“Sho can help you,” Nino amended unhelpfully as he started walking back towards The Lair. “Don’t forget business etiquette either—Can’t have this idiot embarrassing us.” He smirked as he walked past, and Aiba couldn’t tear his eyes away from him until he was out of sight.  
  
He looked at Jun for clarification, but Jun’s face was shifting through several emotions, his mind too busy with planning out what to do to notice. Out of the corner of his eye, Aiba could see Sho, too, looking to Jun for any ideas.  
  
“Three weeks isn’t much time,” Jun mumbled, biting his bottom lip for a second. “And it’s not like we can just put work on hold to do it.”  
  
For a second, Aiba was really nervous that this wasn’t going to work out after all, but he trusted Jun and Sho.  
  
“Guess we’ll have to use lunch breaks. We can go to the café on the corner. We won’t get anything done with _distractions_ here in the office,” Jun shot, turning to his head towards The Lair to indicate what he meant. “If it doesn’t look like that’ll be enough, you’ll have to stay after work, Aiba-chan.”  
  
“That’s fine with me. But are you guys going to be okay?”  
  
“We can change off,” Sho finally broke in. “And I’ll put together a packet of information that you can take home with you to look over.”  
  
“I have the portfolio from our last meeting, we can go over that today,” Jun added, then checked the time on his computer. “Want to go now? We can discuss it over coffee and then eat lunch while we finish testing, when we get back.”  
  
“Okay...” Aiba felt almost dumbfounded, not only at the quick change of events, but the fact that they were all so willing to help him.  
  
“Bring me back a tall mocha.” Nino’s voice sounded from the next room, and they all looked in that direction at the interruption.  
  
“Only if _you’re_ paying for it,” Jun told him, starting to collect his bag and pull open his desk drawer to find a binder.  
  
“Put it on the budget,” Nino replied easily, and Jun just shook his head.  
  
“Unless you’re putting _ours_ on there, no,” he argued.  
  
“I’m the boss, I should get special privileges.”  
  
“No, Nino. You can pay me when we get back,” Jun cut off the conversation, and Aiba thought he should probably grab his own stuff and maybe a notebook—or two. He hurried into Sho’s office, sharing a smile with the older man as he walked past.  
  
“Do your best,” Sho told him, and Aiba nodded, brimming with enthusiasm and excitement. He was going to be _so_ useful!  
  
Although Nino was still trying to argue with Jun, Jun ignored him and led the way out the office door, holding it open for Aiba, who was trailing behind him. They walked down the stairs out of the building with quick steps, and once they were on the sidewalk, Jun suddenly let out a loud laugh and threw his hands above his head.  
  
“I can’t believe it! That was way more than what I was expecting!”  
  
“Was it?” Aiba asked curiously. He didn’t imagine he was going to do much at the meeting with the buyers, but at least having a spot made me an official part of the company.  
  
Jun gave him an ecstatic look, then rubbed his head sheepishly, his walking pace still rather fast.  
  
“I told Nino what you said, that you weren’t going to quit anytime soon and wanted to do more.”  
  
Knowing that, Aiba’s face flushed so quickly that he could feel the burning all the way down to his collar bone.  
  
“That was his action to take. I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Jun finished contently, looking down at his feet for a second.  
  
But they had already reached the coffee shop, and paused to look at each other with an understanding expression.  
  
“Thank you,” was all Aiba could manage to get out.  
  
“Not at all. You must be really happy—I mean, Nino, I’ve seen the way you look at him and I was, uh, meaning to ask you about it, but—“  
  
“What’re you guys doing?”  
  
Both of them jumped and Jun turned to find Ohno standing behind him--neither had noticed him approach. Aiba wasn’t sure if he was happy that he could avoid confessing his thing for Nino, or nervous that Ohno might have overheard their conversation.  
  
When he wasn’t answered, Ohno unconsciously picked his nose while he stared and asked, “Getting coffee?” hopefully.  
  
“Come in and we’ll tell you all about it,” Jun offered, opening the door for Ohno to go in first. Aiba sighed in relief and followed after them.  
  
+++  
  
It was probably lucky that Aiba didn’t have much else in the office to do at that point, because he threw himself into his “studies” and managed to bother Sho and Jun as little as possible. Ohno came to help him from time to time when he was bored, but with his current place in the hierarchy, Ohno knew what he had to, and no one else expected more from the sleepy little man.  
  
He was good company, though. Sho didn’t complain when Ohno wiggled in between him and Aiba to look over the page of notes Aiba was studying. For the most part he was quiet, but every once in a while he would make a comment that would amuse Aiba and make things easier to remember.  
  
“I didn’t know we were getting money from people in America. They must be desperate.”  
  
“Sho made that pie graph. You can tell by the ‘additional descriptions’ section at the bottom of the page.”  
  
“Ah, that’s Matsu-nii! It’s been a while since I’ve seen him…”  
  
That was the day that Aiba had been memorizing the profiles of their buyers, the company they would be meeting with in just a few more days, and he’d thought Ohno had fallen asleep on his shoulder when he’d suddenly pointed out one of the names on the sheet.  
  
“Is he a friend of yours?” Aiba started to ask when all of a sudden a loud curse came from the back corner, causing all three heads to turn simultaneously.  
  
“Damn it,” Nino growled, then the office went dead silent.  
  
They all waited for something more, posed with their heads turned. But nothing came, so Sho eventually glanced at Aiba and shared a questioning look.  
  
Sho was just about to returned to his computer when another curse came, louder than before.  
  
“ _Damn it_!”  
  
Aiba stood up this time, straining to see over the top of the partitions back to The Lair where Nino was. Of course he couldn’t see anything, other than Jun also checking the situation after a moment.  
  
“ _Piece of_ —Jun!” Nino called out, his tone a bit whiney now, and Jun looked like he’d stumbled over his chair in his rush to get across the hallway.  
  
“What’s wrong?” he asked hurriedly. Aiba was considering following him for curiosity’s sake, but maybe it was better to stay out of it for another minute.  
  
“Look at this.” Nino sounded a bit calmer than before and it was silent again as Jun no doubt checked out what Nino had to show him.  
  
“Shit,” came Jun’s own curse, and this time Sho darted out of his office chair and back to The Lair, followed closely by Aiba and Ohno.  
  
When they all crowded in, Nino shot them a light glare, but Jun was too busy looking at the oversized TV screen, where Nino was always playing videogames. Jun was holding the controller in his hand and moving around the joystick, but the screen was frozen and pixelated.  
  
“I’ll do it again,” Nino sighed, reaching forward to reset the game manually, and pulled the remote back into his own hands.  
  
Aiba watched unwaveringly as he started the game and the title screen appeared with no problem. He selected his saved data and everything started as it should. After changing out some of his items, Nino directed his character towards a treasure spot in the corner, but when he clicked on it, suddenly the character flashed and became extremely pixelated. It flashed again, and now half of the screen was messed up, and frozen in place despite Nino’s attempts to fix things.  
  
“A bug…” Sho whispered, and finally Aiba realized what had happened. That didn’t sound good…  
  
“I’ll check out the programming,” Jun said with a tight face and scrambled back into his office, and Sho took after him with a look that was just as worried.  
  
Aiba wanted to ask what course of action would be taken, but he didn’t want to make anything worse than it already was. Not only was the game supposed to be mostly complete by now, but they were meeting with their buyers in a few days…  
  
Ohno seemed to be thinking the same thing, and the two of them slunk into the corner, out of the way, but from a spot they could watch over the situation.  
  
With an expression of upmost annoyance, Nino reset the game and went back through the steps again, this time changing the items he had equipped subtly and retrying the treasure chest. It worked fine that time, so he restarted it, doing the same thing again with only a small change. The bug showed up that time, and he reached over to a piece of scrap paper on the table next to him to take notes.  
  
Aiba wanted to offer his assistance, but he felt that even trying to talk with Nino at this point would get him a scolding. Besides, there was nothing he could do to smooth things over until they had figured out what the problem was.  
  
“Jun?” Sho asked unsurely across the office, at his own desk.  
  
“Yeah, I see it,” Jun sighed back. From where he was leaning over his computer, the top of Jun’s head and slouched shoulders were visible. “Come over here and let’s watch the demo.”  
  
Sho did as he was told and joined Jun in his office, where the two of them worked at Jun’s computer for several minutes without speaking. In that time, Nino did his test run three more times, with only one of them successfully continuing gameplay without the bug.  
  
+++  
  
“We can just scrap that item,” Jun said calmly, sipping his coffee and acting far more composed that Aiba thought he was.  
  
They were all seated in a circle in The Lair, Nino in his chair brooding while the rest of them sat on the floor. Aiba knew he wouldn’t be able to add anything to the conversation, but it was his duty to be present, since he was going to make sure he was a permanent part of the company from now on. Next to him, Ohno seemed a little tense, but didn’t say anything himself. They just watched the other three talk like they had been for the last few hours.  
  
“We can’t. It’s not vital to the game, but if we scrap it or replace it, we’ll have to redo the formatting for three other items anyway. It’ll take more time to do that than just fix it.”  
  
“That’s true, since we added the synthesis part,” Sho sighed, rubbing his face and slouching.  
  
Silence flowed throughout the cubicle, the air thick with insecurity.  
  
Jun took another sip of his coffee while Nino flicked his fingers in a worn nervous habit. Sho just sat solemnly, watching them in turn.  
  
It seemed they had exhausted most of their options earlier, and it  had come down to this, the final route that they knew they had no choice but to take, even if admitting it would be the biggest obstacle.  
  
“How much work are we looking at?” Nino asked, slowly and carefully as to not put the blame on anyone in particular.  
  
“With three of us fixing it? Plus the work we already have?” Jun clarified, and sighed loudly. “100 hours or more.”  
  
That sounded like a long time to Aiba, time that he couldn’t help cut down on.  
  
“Fine. I’ll call Taichi,” Nino sighed himself, then ran his hand through his hair. “We’ll tell him at the meeting and demand an extension.”  
  
“Nino, you know that’s not a good idea—“  
  
“We don’t have a choice!” Nino shot back, then ruffled in anger. He’d been trying so hard to keep his emotions at bay, but they broke through in the end. Nino’s solution seemed to be running away, because without another word he stood up and darted through the front door of the office, leaving the rest of them behind.  
  
Once he was gone, the tense air broke and Sho was the one to sigh this time, throwing his head back and taking several deep breaths. “It’ll be okay. They might get angry, but you know how those guys are. They’ll give us the extension,” he said to Jun.  
  
“Yeah, but I can’t help but feel bad about the situation. Wish we could have found it sooner,” was Jun’s comment in return. “This isn’t the first time it’s happened.”  
  
“I know, but there no helping it now.” Sho reached over and patted Jun on the shoulder consolingly, giving him a smile that made Jun avert his eyes in embarrassment. “Besides, we still need to finish preparing Aiba for the dinner. It’s better to just let this problem go now and take them one at a time.”  
  
Aiba felt the pressure that had been building up in his body over the last few hours suddenly pour out of him. He knew this was a big problem, but Sho thought that it would be okay, that they would get the extension. Even if Nino was in a bad mood because of it, there was a solution, so there wasn’t a point in wasting more energy, especially since Aiba was down to crunch time, just like Sho had said.  
  
He needed to make every moment count until the actual meeting in order to make the best impression himself.  
  
+++  
  
Aiba wasn’t sure how the seats had been arranged, but by some coincidence he’d been directed to sit next to Nino, who was at the head of the table on their side. Next to Aiba was Jun, then Sho, and last Ohno, who, once he sat down, tested out how comfortable the wall was with his shoulder before smiling unconsciously.  
  
On the opposite side sat five other businessmen in suits, all but one of them slouching unceremoniously and putting Aiba’s mind at ease for a moment. He’d memorized the names of the people attending, but he was nervous enough that he couldn’t confidently recall them all.  
  
There wasn’t an opportunity to confirm things with anyone else, and Aiba realized there was a reason for his placement once they had poured the drinks and things had started.  
  
“So this is the new one?” the guy across from Aiba asked with a raised eyebrow, giving him a piercing stare. Aiba straightened up a little in his chair and wished he would have asked Sho for more details about meeting etiquette. Besides that short lesson, all he had to go off of was his drinking parties with Touma and Kame, and those certainly couldn’t be appropriate.  
  
“Aiba Masaki,” Nino offered curtly, probably upset that the seating arrangements had turned out this way and he didn’t have someone more useful next to him.  
  
There was an awkward silence when Nino didn’t say any more; Jun sighed quietly, and Aiba decided he was the only one who could do anything if Nino wasn’t.  
  
“Nice to meet you,” said Aiba cheerfully, and bowed a little. He waited for Nino to reprimand him or even show a sign of irritation, but he didn’t. As soon as the attention was off of him, Nino reached for his beer and just gripped it without drinking, apparently ignoring the conversation.  
  
At least, the man across from him seemed pleased that Aiba was taking initiative.  
  
“You too. I’m Taichi, vice president of The Tokio Corporation. This is our real Leader,” he said with a half smile, patting the man across from Nino heavily on the shoulder. If he was the president, he must be Joshima, although Jun had said they all called him Leader. “But he’s mostly useless!” Taichi laughed, as did the other members of his company, as if they were sharing an inside joke. “Sort of matches yours, huh?” he teased sharply, pointed a finger at Nino, who glared at him.  
  
“I don’t think Nino’s useless!” Aiba responded with an airy voice, the one that sort of made him sound like an idiot, and he smiled at Taichi. “He’s incredibly motivated and works hard every day! I’m really happy to be working for him now… Even if he yells at me a lot for making too many mistakes,” Aiba added sheepishly. Well, Nino’s complaints couldn’t be called yelling exactly, but Aiba got the joke across, and successfully too, since just about everyone started laughing at his comment. Nino even shot him an unsure look before promptly turning back to his glass as if pouting.  
  
Aiba wished someone would follow up with how hopeless he was in the office, but they didn’t, all too nervous about how the meeting would turn out once it got serious (except Ohno maybe, but he rarely spoke as it was). Aiba was nervous too, but at least talking was something he could do even under that pressure.  
  
“How long have you been working there?” Taichi asked, then raised his beer to his lips to take a drink.  
  
“Not long,” Aiba replied vaguely, because surely the short amount of time he had been there would be laughable to one of _Hatenai Sora’s_ longest business partners. “I still have a lot to learn.”  
  
“Well they could use the help,” the man on the other end of the table said bluntly, shooting a look at Aiba to size him up, then turning to Ohno across from him. “Huh, Oh-chan?” he asked sweetly with a grin.  
  
“I like Aiba,” Ohno told him with a big smile in return. “He brings me food sometimes.”  
  
“So easy to please,” the man said endearingly and picked up the bottle of beer to fill Ohno’s glass to the top.  
  
“Thank you, Matsu-nii,” Ohno replied with another grin, then took a deep drink. Aiba hadn’t touched his yet because neither Jun nor Sho had, probably for the better until they explained their need for an extension.  
  
Their cautious atmosphere must have been obvious, because when Taichi looked away from the pair near the wall, his eyes landed exactly on Nino. Taichi folded his arm and slouched to lean on the table, staring while Nino ignored him, still running his fingers distractedly over his warming beer.  
  
“So,” the vice-president said, drawing the attention of just about everyone. “What’s this ‘bad news’ you mentioned having? Let’s get the business talk over before dinner comes.”  
  
Nino cleared his throat and looked up again, his face already full of defense and defiance. He addressed Taichi, although he was stealing glancing looks at Tokio’s Leader out of the corner of his eyes.  
  
“There’s a bug, we need to push back the release date,” he said curtly, and Taichi’s eyebrows furrowed unhappily.  
  
“A bug…?” came out unsurely, and he appeared to hold back a series of immediate comments for something more important. “How long are we talking?” His words held an edge of warning.  
  
“Best case is a month.” This must be the famous stubborn Nino who didn’t try to be polite or sugar-coat his words, even if it would have really helped the situation (in Aiba’s opinion). He hadn’t even apologized for the delay.  
  
Taichi clenched his teeth in frustration and turned to the president, as if to check his reaction. When Leader looked back passively, Taichi turned to the other three instead, all of whom looked much more serious about the problem. They appeared to have a silent discussion, then the man with slicked back hair (Aiba thought he was Nagase-san) looked diagonally across the table at Nino.  
  
“You told us you’d have it done by the end of the year,” he commented, with a little more understanding than Taichi, but Nino didn’t seem to care.  
  
“That was an estimate! When it gets down to the finishing line like this—“ Nino’s voice was rising, and Aiba noticed that Jun visibly stiffened, his eyes darting back and forth between Nino and the other side of the table.  
  
“This has happened three times!” Taichi, who was more upset about it than the others, intervened. “First it was the user interface, then that lag thing, and then you had to reformat the entire first level! You can’t just do these things of your own accord and expect us to keep up with you because we did back when you were still a rookie!”  
  
Nino’s face was turning red and he was clenching his glass in a way that was a little dangerous. Aiba was getting worked up with the fighting, and his mouth decided to take action before his brain could stop it.  
  
“Taichi-san, we’re really sorry,” was the first thing that came out, because he felt that this conversation was really lacking some courtesy on both sides. He bowed his head in apology and was surprised when the table went completely silent. Nino reached over and grabbed his thigh under the table, which would have been pretty sexy had he not been digging his fingernails into his skin in a way that hurt.  
  
Well, if he was already headed this direction might as well try to make the best of it. At least he knew what was going on, since he had been paying attention when the problem had arose in the first place.  
  
“It’s not something that can be avoided or brushed over and we intend to give you the fully finished and tested product. The reason that Nino-san does things this way is because he won’t put out anything but a perfect game, and even though that might be frustrating from your perspective, I assure you we’re doing our best to fix this.  We guarantee full satisfaction and hope for your willingness to work together with us towards another successful business transaction.”  
  
Obviously Sho’s business lessons had paid off.  
  
The table was still silent, but Nino’s grip lessened and Aiba looked up again to check the situation. Taichi appeared a bit more appeased, and was shooting looks at the others again.  
  
“I think that’s good enough,” Leader said with a relieved grin that showed off his middle-aged wrinkles. “We agree to the extension.”  
  
“Hey!” Nagase was the one to cut in, although all of them looked like they wanted to. “Do you realize that’s going to put back our _whole schedule_ a month? You can just make decisions like these by yourself!”  
  
“I’m the president,” he smirked in self-satisfaction, watching Aiba happily as if he’d just created something amusing. “I’ll do what I want.”  
  
Taichi rolled his eyes. He went along with the decision, although not without a final warning to Nino. “If it’s going to take more than a month you notify us _right away_ , do you hear me?”  
  
With a glare at him, Nino removed his hand from Aiba’s leg, where it ached a little, and nodded slightly. “Fine.”  
  
“Well, then, how about we start enjoying this?” Aiba said, suddenly feeling very nervous. Apparently what he’d done had gone over well, but he could only guess that he would get a rather terrifying scathing from Nino when it was over. Even Jun wasn’t brave (or stupid) enough to take over the conversation so blatantly, even if it was headed downhill. “How about some more beer, Leader-san?” he offered, picking up the nearest glass bottle and leaning across the table to reach his cup. The man continued to smile at him and nodded. Once it was poured he immediately took a sip of it.  
  
Trying to keep up his air of politeness and avoid Nino’s gaze as long as he could, Aiba filled up Taichi’s glass next, and Sho seemed to take the hint because he started on the other side of the table, politely offering drinks with a genuine smile. (He even filled up Ohno’s and Jun’s when he was done.)  
  
“What an interesting guy,” he heard Leader mumble into his beer, and Taichi sighed in exasperation just as the food arrived at the table.  
  
+++  
  
Inside of his head, Aiba had pieced together an image of how these meetings usually ended, and it wasn’t like this.  
  
All five employees of Hatenai Sora stood out on the street to see the others off—they had come together in two sports cars, one that belonged to Ohno’s friend “Matsu-nii” and the one he thought was Nagase’s. In the end Tokio had paid for the dinner, although originally it was supposed to be the other way around. Leader had insisted, to celebrate Aiba’s new presence, but Aiba had a feeling it was more than that.  
  
He was pretty sure that this was the first time that both parties had left the meeting happy.  
  
Business hadn’t been brought up again, once they were eating and drinking. Instead Aiba discussed the finer points of the current soccer league with Taichi, and prodded Nino into a discussion of guitar music with Leader. By then, Jun and Sho could easily handle their own conversations, and Ohno didn’t even need any help; it was like that end of the table was a separate world from the rest of them. Aiba tried to file away a thought for later, _ask Oh-chan about Matsu-nii_.  
  
When they had been putting their jackets on up front, Jun patted Aiba on the back. That was the moment when the weight of his earlier actions had come back, and he started to sweat, wondering what in the word Nino was going to do to him once they were alone. To the others it may have looked like a rescue act, but Aiba doubted Nino wanted the help, and would probably hate him for it.  
  
Suddenly, he wasn’t feeling so great.  
  
Things had to be seen through until the end, though, so Aiba followed the rest of them outside, glad for the cool night air, and he stood as far out of the way as possible while they watched The Tokio Corporation leave for the night.  
  
Once they were gone and it was silent again, Jun took a breath of relief and shared a grateful look with Sho before turning to Aiba.  
  
“That was great. You did great,” he assured him with two hands on his shoulders, then promptly took a step back. Nino was coming up behind him with a frown on his face and Jun glanced back and forth between them as if not sure whose side to take.  
  
“Jun, could you take these two home? We need a moment,” Nino said in a low voice, his eyes not leaving Aiba’s, and that alone made Aiba get really nervous.  
  
“Uh…” Jun looked unsurely between Aiba and Sho, but Aiba just forced a smile. He’d take the brunt of it and leave Jun out of it. That was probably part of Aiba’s job description, being the gopher and all, or at least he would make it so.  
  
Nino’s eyes were still on him, but Aiba turned to watch the others until they had climbed into a cab together and taken off, leaving the pair alone on the empty street. After shuffling his feet a little and smoothing out his shirt anxiously, he finally met Nino’s eyes and found his boss much closer than he’d thought he was.  
  
“Aiba-kun,” he said evenly, but that was all. He let the silence stretch out to a minute and Aiba couldn’t do anything because Nino was _close_ , right up in his personal space and leaning forward even more. If he was trying to intimidate him he’d better start yelling or something, because _this_ was only temptation.  
  
Aiba was frozen to the spot, and when Nino seemed to realize that, he reached up and put his hands on either side of Aiba’s head, holding him firmly.  
  
He planted a kiss right on his lips, quick and casual.  
  
While Aiba’s brain was trying to process, Nino took a step back and slipped his hands into his pockets. It was dark so Aiba couldn’t make out his features that well, but he could tell that Nino was acting reserved and possibly embarrassed.  
  
“That’s your reward. For tonight.”  
  
Aiba still couldn’t speak. His mouth was probably gaping open, but he couldn’t process that either.  
  
When he didn’t say anything, Nino added, “Thank you,” softly, and darted past him to the taxi stop. Automatically Aiba’s gaze followed him all the way across the sidewalk until Nino stopped to call a cab. Even then, Aiba could only stare.  
  
Nino managed to flag one down in less than a minute, but before he climbed into the back seat he turned to Aiba with his usual irritation. “Well, if you don’t get in you can pay for your own ride home!”  
  
The sharp words caused a reflexive action, and Aiba found himself in the back seat of the car with Nino sitting next to him before his mind could catch up.  
  
It wasn’t until they were in front of Aiba’s house that he managed to stammer out, “Th-thank you,” in reply. He stood on the curb and watched the taxi take off until it rounded the corner and went out of sight, then stood there some more, thinking about what in the world had happened tonight.  
  
+++  
  
Aiba thought long and hard about that kiss and he reached a decision by Monday.  
  
Although he’d thought his love for Nino was hidden well enough from the office, he must have been wrong—after all, Jun had figured it out, so it wouldn’t be that far-fetched to think that Nino had. So he’d figured it out and ignored it as usual, but after last night Nino had decided that, if Aiba was to be given a reward, a kiss would be it.  
  
Aiba thought it was a good reward.  
  
This line of thought led Aiba to believe that there were more kisses to be had. Even if Nino wasn’t thinking of him as a romantic interest, if he was willing to give out rewards such as that, Aiba would accept them whole-heartedly.  
  
Which meant that Aiba began his day with renewed motivation for life, passing out coffee, complimenting Nino’s hair (even if it looked the same as usual), and offering to take his suit to the dry-cleaners before even being asked.  
  
Although he acted a bit hesitant at first, Aiba was pleased that in the end, Nino responded to him with less formality than before and took advantage of Aiba’s kindness as much as he could. He wasn’t sure, but something must have changed after the dinner meeting, either Aiba had proven himself, or Nino had gotten over his animosity.  
  
Either way, Aiba didn’t mind at all.  
  
The first day it wasn’t bad.  
  
“Hey, Aiba? Could you look through the extra space and find me the gaming notes from two years ago?”  
  
“Yes! As fast as I can!”  
  
The second day wasn’t bad either.  
  
“This place could use a little bit of cleaning, don’t you think?”  
  
“Leave it to me, Nino-san!”  
  
After that it was all downhill.  
  
“Aiba, more coffee please.”  
  
Although it was only an hour after the last cup he’d given Nino, Aiba’s mood didn’t waver and he put the supplies budget on pause to fulfill the request. He walked into The Lair to get Nino’s cup, headed back into the kitchen to fill it with the remaining coffee from the pot and gave Nino a large smile when he handed it to him. Nino gave him a smirk in return and went back to his game.  
  
Aiba could feel his reward points building up.  
  
“Stop spoiling him,” Jun complained as Aiba walked past his doorway on his way back to his desk. “He’s becoming full of himself.”  
  
“Shut up, Jun,” Nino called out. “Let Aiba do what he wants to.”  
  
Aiba laughed at the comment.  
  
It was true that he shouldn’t spoil Nino so much, but ever since Nino’s mood towards him had changed, he couldn’t help it; more than anything he didn’t want things to go back to how they were before. He liked receiving Nino’s smiles better than his glares, and he liked feeling like he was needed in the office.  
  
Besides, there should be another kiss coming any time now.  
  
Aiba went back to his budget sheet to double check the calculations. It was only in the last week or so that he’d been able to do everything correctly, but that was a big enough step. With how busy they were, he couldn’t bother Sho to help him with it (and Aiba may have even started on the company expenses budget in secret, hoping that Sho would have less work later).  
  
Everything seemed in place, so Aiba pulled out his inventory list and headed to the kitchen to check things there for his trip to the store in the afternoon. And the new hardware they’d ordered had arrived in the computer shop, so he’d have to stop here too. Overall his schedule had gotten busier since the meeting, but that was only because he’d started filling in the gaps, either spoiling Nino, or being proactive about other things, trying to lighten the load on the others. It seemed like lately his days in the office would be over before he realized it.  
  
Plus today he had to stop at the dry cleaners himself to pick up his suit. Tomorrow morning he was going to The Tokio Corporation with Jun—nothing fancy, just to exchange some papers and give up a short update on the bug. Usually Nino and Jun would go, but they’d decided that only one of them could be spared with the schedule they had, which naturally left things to Aiba. The repairs were going according to plan, so they’d be able to make their new schedule as long as things kept up. Which meant that the meeting wasn’t really anything to worry about (even if Aiba couldn’t help but get nervous anyway).  
  
Best to get everything done he could take care of today. He still had a short list of things to do, but he was confident he could make his own deadline on time.  
  
+++  
  
“You know,” Jun said, as he opened the door to his car in the parking garage across the street from the office. Aiba looked over at him, his hand ready on the handle for the passenger’s side.  
  
Jun didn’t add anything else until they were in the car and he’d turned the engine on to warm up while he double checked his appearance in the side mirror. Aiba watched him, then thought he should check himself as well, making sure his tie was at least straight.  
  
“Spoiling him isn’t going to get you what you want,” Jun eventually added in a precise voice. He was probably unsure about breaching the topic and trying to be cautious, since Aiba had managed to avoid all conversations involving only Nino up until that point.  
  
Aiba didn’t need his caution, but he also wasn’t sure what he wanted to say.  
  
“What do you mean?” He decided the best route was to get Jun talking first, and then maybe Aiba would know better what action to take.  
  
“He wants you to spoil him, that’s obvious. But I know Nino… he thinks if he gives in to you, you won’t come back.”  
  
That statement caused Aiba a bit of alarm. He whipped his head around to look at Jun with wide eyes, but Jun was serious and gave him a cool look before he changed gears and backed the car up.  
  
“Nino 101: he distances himself from people he likes.”  
  
If that was supposed to explain how Nino had been treating him up until now… Aiba felt his face go completely red in both embarrassment and delight.  
  
“He thinks it’s too much trouble, and hates the idea that they might leave him one day. ‘It’s easier if it never happens in the first place.’ That’s how Nino thinks,” Jun explained. “So even if you spoil him to try to get on his good side, he’s still going to keep the distance, just use you in the meantime.”  
  
Aiba hadn’t thought of it that way.  
  
Then again, he hadn’t honestly thought of pursuing Nino at all, since Nino didn’t seem interested in him in the least. That’s what Aiba had figured, until _now_.  
  
Jun seemed to be waiting for confirmation from Aiba or something, because he paused and concentrated fully on driving while Aiba pondered on things a bit. Aiba didn’t know what to do with the newfound information, or implication that he should even try to get closer to Nino. But they didn’t have that long for such an important conversation, just another ten minutes until they were at The Tokio Corporation’s head office.  
  
Instead of exhausting his brain, Aiba fell on his backup (which was usually more accurate anyway) and tried to listen to his instincts, his heart. He finally had all the pieces to the puzzle, now he had to figure out how to put them together.  
  
“What should I do?”  
  
Jun grinned as if that was the question he’d been hoping for.  
  
“Play hard to get.”  
  
+++  
  
“You guys are pretty late,” Nino commented when they walked back into the office that afternoon. He was in the kitchen, unusually, placing the bento on the counter for Aiba to wash later. Recently he’d started that habit, as well as requesting his lunch menu in advance, assuming he had a preference for what to eat.  
  
“Ah, Leader invited us for lunch,” Aiba told him with a pleased smile. When they’d first come in, The Tokio Corporation’s boss had been waiting for them along with Taichi. After they’d presented the documents and Jun assured them they were on schedule, they’d been cornered into a cup of coffee and a cupcake (actually Aiba’d had three at Leader’s insistence), which had somehow led into lunch several hours later. Aiba had been a little worried about the extended time, but Jun assured him it would just be like using their lunch break early.  
  
“Damn, Joshima really likes you,” Nino commented incredulously, staring at Aiba for a moment before averting his eyes and heading back to The Lair. But this time Aiba had managed to see that look--or what could potentially be that look—of Nino’s vague wonder and repressed curiosity. “Aiba, could you make some more coffee? We’re out,” Nino added over his shoulder.  
  
Aiba was just about to snap to it when he felt Jun’s hand on his arm. Jun gave him a subtle wink and Aiba remembered about what they’d talked about in the car, both on the way there and way back.  
  
“Ah, sorry Nino. Can I do it in a minute? I have to give these papers to Sho-chan,” Aiba said tentatively, and Jun nodded in approval at the excuse before making his way to his own office.  
  
“I’ll make some,” Jun threw in when Nino turned to reply, effectively cutting off whatever would come from their boss.  
  
“Fine,” was all he could say, and frowned as he flopped down into his chair and out of sight.  
  
+++  
  
“Aiba-kun?” Nino called over.  
  
Aiba was next to Jun in Jun’s office, the two of them doing the very last of the pair testing. He glanced at Jun before replying, “Yes?”  
  
“Could you bring me a red pen so I can make some notes on this report?”  
  
Jun shook his head slowly, indicating that Aiba should take the same route that he had for the last two days, basically denying Nino anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary.  
  
“S-sorry, I’m busy,” he managed. Even after practicing, it still wasn’t hard to deny people things on purpose, especially Nino. It was counter-intuitive, since he wanted Nino’s affection so badly, and it made sweat break out on Aiba’s forehead.  
  
“Seriously?!” Nino raised his voice and unexpectedly he was standing in the doorway, examining the situation as if trying to prove that Aiba had been lying. Luckily enough Aiba still had his hands on the controller, and Jun promptly took his turn as if to confirm the truth for Nino.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Aiba repeated in a pathetic voice, and forced himself to focus his eyes back on the screen.  
  
“AH!” Nino let out a frustrated sound, but stomped into his office himself without another word.  
  
For the rest of the morning, Nino went out of his way to ignore Aiba—which was both relieving and depressing at the same time. Aiba was so weak to behavior like that, and if Jun hadn’t been there supporting him the whole way, he would have given in at the start.  
  
They finished up their testing work and Aiba went back to his half of the desk in Sho’s office to look over the schedule that had been made until the end of the project. There were only a few weeks left, and with that last gaming session with Jun, they had finished the work that had been assigned to today. Which meant they could start working on the next step, checking the game packaging and outline that The Tokio Corporation had sent them yesterday.  
  
After making sure he knew what he was supposed to be doing, Aiba picked up the outline report, which had been on the top of Sho’s pile of work, and began flipping through it to see if there were any big changes from the last one they’d sent.  
  
“Could you make copies of that, Aiba-chan?” Sho asked, startling Aiba a little since Sho hadn’t even bothered to look away from the screen or stop typing when he spoke.  
  
“Ah, sure Sho-chan!”  
  
He got up and walked towards the front of the office where the large copy machine was located opposite the kitchen (it was far outdated, but still useable). Before he had even reached it though, he was stopped by Nino almost yelling across the office.  
  
“You’ll make copies for him but I ask you for a _red pen_ and you’re busy?!”  
  
Aiba’s eyes widened in panic. He hadn’t thought Nino would get _that_ upset over his playing-hard-to-get. Honestly, he’d thought that Nino would permanently go back to ignoring him, but true to Jun’s prediction it had done exactly the opposite.  
  
An apology tried to fly out of Aiba’s mouth, but Jun was standing up to defend him without delay.  
  
“Get off of your throne, Nino! He’s not here to _serve_ you.”  
  
“He’s a gopher!” Nino replied, his voice cooling down. “He’s here to fill in the gaps and that includes getting me red pens!”  
  
“I can’t believe you’re getting so worked up about this—“ Jun started in on a lecture, and Aiba stopped paying attention when Sho stood up and came to his rescue.  
  
“Let’s go outside for a minute,” he said calmly, and led Aiba out the front door with a gentle hand on his back. They walked in silence to the fire escape door, and went out onto the metal overhang, the whole time Aiba focusing on calming his breathing. The air was crisp and turned white in front of his mouth for a moment, Aiba’s breath warm from being inside.  
  
When he finally met Sho’s eyes, Sho was had a soft grin on his face and was looking interested—a contrast to his usual serious office attitude.  
  
“I don’t know what you and Jun are doing,” he said casually, “But it’s really getting to Nino. It’s driving him crazy that you won’t pay attention to him after spoiling him all last week.”  
  
“Well, I—“ Aiba tried to respond quickly, but he had an unusual lack of words at the moment. He was still a little upset from Nino’s sudden outburst. It had shocked him.  
  
“Don’t worry, he’s not really mad at you. Probably madder at Jun,” Sho chuckled, leaning against the metal railing.  
  
Suddenly Aiba realized that this was a rare moment, him alone with Sho. He should make the most of it and maybe try to distract himself until he’d had time to recover.  
  
“It was Jun’s idea, anyway!” he laughed back. “He thinks it’ll make Nino like me.”  
  
“No need for that,” Sho assured him, and Aiba was confused by the statement until he added, “Nino already likes you.”  
  
Heat flooded Aiba’s cheeks and he avoided his gaze to the building across from them. “Well, that’s good… How about you?” he asked, trying to be sneaky, but it ended up back firing.  
  
Sho raised his eyebrow. “I… like you too?”  
  
“I mean,” Aiba became ruffled when he realized his mistake and his eyes shifted around while he tried to think of what to say. “Isn’t there someone _you_ like? In the office?”  
  
“It seems like you already know the answer to that question,” Sho replied easily with a shrug, acting completely cool about the question. Jun, on the other hand, still got a bit defensive whenever Aiba tried to ask, as if he didn’t want to hope for too much and be disappointed.  
  
“Well, he likes you back, so maybe you should do something about it,” Aiba told him rather clearly, with a nod.  
  
Sho just looked amused and nodded back.  
  
“Now give me that report before you crumple it beyond recognition!” He held out his hand, and Aiba looked down at the packet of papers in his fist, which he had forgotten about completely in his surprise. Just as Sho said, they were starting to wrinkle with his sweaty tight grip, and Aiba tried to smooth them out before handing them over.  
  
“Sorry.”  
  
“No problem. I’ll go make the copies myself. Maybe you should stay out here another minute, just in case?” Sho suggested with a hesitant look and Aiba nodded. He’d like to have a moment to himself anyway, to calm his emotions before walking back in there and having to face Nino.  
  
Sho raised his hand in a weak wave before he opened the door and left Aiba alone on the fire escape.  
  
Aiba leaned against the wall, clenching his fists together tightly for a second and closing his eyes.  
  
Although he wasn’t sure, he tried to convince himself that this was a good sign. No doubt Jun would have some insight to the situation, but then again, Aiba was getting a little anxious with Jun being the sole reason for his decisions.  
  
All he really wanted to do was push Nino down and do what he wanted with him. But Aiba knew that was impossible, with office politics and their already precarious relationship. He _was_ impatient, but he didn’t want Nino to hate him.  
  
When the door rattled open next to him Aiba jumped back to life, jerking his head over to see who was coming out next.  
  
It was Nino.  
  
He carefully closed the door behind him and gave Aiba an even look.  
  
“I didn’t mean to yell,” he said solemnly, and Aiba almost laughed.  
  
At that reaction, Nino narrowed his eyes into a glare and placed his hands on his hips. “What’s that supposed to mean?”  
  
“I… What are you doing out here?” Aiba asked instead, trying to cover his mouth and the wide smile that was plastered over the bottom of his face.  
  
“I came to apologize, idiot!” Nino fumed. “Jun said you were probably upset.”  
  
Actually he had been, but talking with Sho had let him recover and he was back to his usual self now. “Don’t worry about me. Sorry to, uhm…”  
  
Coming out and admitting he was avoiding Nino was too obvious, but Aiba couldn’t come up with anything else that wouldn’t give him away.  
  
“Sorry I didn’t get your red pen,” he decided to say, and almost broke out laughing again. This fight was all over a _pen_.  
  
“You’re acting strange!” Nino threw back at him, pointing his finger for emphasis, but his attitude seemed to have lightened too. “Ever since that meeting! First you’re all over me, then you can’t stand to look at me!”  
  
Aiba’s mind went straight to the gutter at the phrase _all over me_ , and he wanted to make a comment back, but restrained himself.  
  
“I’m sorry, Nino-san. It’s not that,” he said honestly. “I wasn’t lying when I said I admired you, and I’m happy to be working here.”  
  
“Well you’re sure not acting like it, refusing to get me red pens!” Nino teased with a small grin, and Aiba couldn’t stop from smiling back, this time not afraid to hide the expression. This was good, the two of them chatting together, alone. This is how he wanted to win Nino over.  
  
But who was to say he couldn’t do both? Play hard to get while still being charming?  
  
Nino was staring at him as if he didn’t dare pull his eyes away and took a step closer to Aiba, which sort of startled him. He’d figured the second the air was clear that Nino was going to run away like he usually did.  
  
“Hey, Aiba-chan?” Nino asked in a lowered voice, taking another step and invading Aiba’s personal space.  
  
Aiba didn’t mind and was sort of having déjà vu. Was it finally time to get his reward kiss? Even if he hadn’t done anything to merit a reward…  
  
“Y-yes?” he stuttered, becoming unbalanced by the predatory look in Nino’s eyes. Another step and they were nose to nose, and Aiba had lost control of his breath again, panting quietly. Maybe he should just kiss Nino himself. They weren’t in the office, and Nino didn’t seem in a bad enough mood to really punish him for it.  
  
After a pause for effect, Nino placed his hands lightly on Aiba’s chest, glancing down at them pointedly before meeting Aiba’s gaze again.  
  
“Give me your phone number,” he whispered. Goose bumps ran up Aiba’s arms—and not from the chill in the air surrounding them.  
  
Uncertain of what else to do, Aiba stayed in that position, Nino barely leaning against him, and just opened his mouth stupidly, floundering like a fish.  
  
“ _Please_ ,” Nino added with a smirk, tilting his head down so that he was looking up at Aiba through his eyelashes.  
  
“Yes?” Aiba finally managed to reply, wondering why they weren’t kissing yet.  
  
“Good.” Nino’s voice returned to his normal tone and he backed up a step to allow Aiba some room. But he held out his hand as if waiting for something—it took a second for Aiba to realize what and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.  
  
Nino took it, and got his own phone out too. He held both of them in his hands while manually changing the information between them, a look of concentration on his face. As he worked, Aiba just stared at him, noticing his cute stubby fingers were turning red from being in the cold for as long as he had, even if it had only been five minutes.  
  
After a moment, Nino sighed, “Great!” and handed Aiba his phone back, open to the new caller profile with Nino’s name, number, and message information. “Now I can call you about work and stuff,” he said lamely. Aiba wasn’t sure if the tone was intentional or not.  
  
“Yeah!” His mind was working slower than normal and he barely noticed that he had taken a huge step forward in his relationship with Nino. He had Nino’s _number_!  
  
“Okay, then. Don’t slack off too much,” Nino said off-hand as he turned and opened the door to go back inside. “And don’t think that this stupid game of yours is going to go on much longer.”  
  
Before the door closed behind him, Nino gave Aiba a pointed, ominous look, and Aiba’s initial reaction was to be worried.  
  
He didn’t know what Nino was thinking or planning, but one thing he could tell for sure, was that things could only go forward.  
  
+++  
  
“He’s about to break, Aiba-chan, don’t give up yet!”  
  
“I’m not giving up,” Aiba assured him, tucking his cell phone into the crook of his shoulder so he could keep talking while he pulled out his futon from the closet. “I’m just saying that, maybe I should go the normal route and ask him out or something?”  
  
“Okay, let’s compromise. Give it until after Christmas and he doesn’t do anything, you can ask him out.”  
  
Aiba sighed. He’d been thinking about this problem all afternoon, after the red pen incident. Nino hadn’t asked anything else of him until he was ready to go home—then he had the audacity to tell Aiba he wanted hamburgers in his bento tomorrow.  
  
“What is he supposed to do, Jun? Relationships usually start with dating don’t they?”  
  
“You’ll know when it happens, Aiba. It’ll be like raising a white flag in surrender.”  
  
Aiba wasn’t so sure about that, but he trusted Jun. Jun was still his go-to for Nino information, and he couldn’t deny his opinion after they had come this far.  
  
“Okay, okay. I’ll keep up the hard-to-get until Christmas, but if nothing happens before then, you _and_ Sho have to come on a double date with us!” It was a brilliant plan.  
  
“Wh-what?”  
  
“You heard me!” Aiba giggled. For a moment he almost hoped Nino would keep things up so Aiba could strong-arm Jun into doing what he wanted him to.  
  
“Fine, agreed!” Jun sounded confident that he wasn’t going to lose the bet. “You’ll see!”  
  
“Worry about your own love life!” Aiba teased him, then yawned unexpectedly. It had been a long day, and he needed to mentally prepare himself to go back to ignoring Nino tomorrow. “I’m going to bed now, goodnight.”  
  
“Idiot!” Jun said affectionately, in the same tone he used with Nino. “Goodnight.”


	4. Game Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aiba is finally able to land a job...and along with it, a boss that ignores his existence. What's he going to do about it?

  
“You’re going to work on your birthday?”  
  
Aiba turned away from his mother because he knew that her lost puppy face rivaled his own, and he didn’t want to feel guilty about this. He hadn’t told anyone at the office that it was his birthday because he already felt like they had done more than enough for him. On the off chance it _would_ happen, he didn’t want them to plan anything, so he would just casually mention it after New Years and have Jun buy him a piece of cake or something next time they went out.  
  
“I’ll still be home in time for dinner! And Christmas Eve isn’t a national holiday, mom. In Japan, regular people work on the twenty-fourth.”  
  
“Well, I know, honey, but…” she trailed off, her shoulder slumping as she wiped off the final dishes she’d been washing while Aiba cleaned the stove in the kitchen. “It’s just, we always have a big party for you!”  
  
“We can still have one,” Aiba grinned, hoping it would make her feel better. It was true that owning their own business meant that his parents could close it at their whim, which they often did on Aiba’s or his brother’s birthday. They would still be open until mid afternoon, but Aiba’s mother always insisted on taking time to make a cake and a nice dinner, and she couldn’t do that while the restaurant was running. Besides, it wasn’t completely uncommon for retail businesses to close early on Christmas Eve, which was excuse enough. “Touma can come over, and I’ll invite the guys from work too!”  
  
At the mention of company, his mother perked up a little. Although he hadn’t meant to tell them, if his mother was going to make a fuss over it, he might as well make sure the outcome was in his favor; if he invited the others over, at least they wouldn’t insist on doing anything themselves. (Not that Aiba thought they would, he was just planning for “in case”.)  
  
Their days were still busy working on the game release, but they were ahead of schedule, and Nino had said they wouldn’t have to do overtime during the winter break. They all had four days off around the start of January; of course Aiba was planning on helping his parents and cleaning out his room, and it was perfect timing to get in their double date. The time limit was almost up, and nothing had improved with Nino, other than getting messages from him every few days. Aiba had resisted giving in to him as much as possible, along with Jun’s help, but Nino hadn’t gotten mad again, although it was obvious he was irritated. Aiba could understand, since something should have been resolved between them by now otherwise.  
  
Christmas itself was a whole other problem. No one was sure whether they were supposed to come in to work that day or not; a month ago it was scheduled as overtime, but there was no need for it anymore. When Jun had asked Nino about it, Nino had blatantly ignored him as some plot of revenge, making it impossible for any of them to schedule plans for Christmas Eve.  
  
So Aiba hadn’t said anything until after he’d gotten a message from Nino that night. _Don’t forget to come into work tomorrow_. He knew it wouldn’t be easy to break the news to his mother (and it wasn’t), but he had a duty and a role to fulfill now. And, as he had told her, it wasn’t like he was going to be gone all day, and it wasn’t a holiday that normal businesses took.  
  
He showed up to work in his regular clothes—a sweater today because Nino refused to turn on the heater until it was below five degrees Celsius—and was puzzled to find the _closed_ sign hung on the front door.  
  
He left the sign in place, and stepped inside. The lights in the kitchen and front of the office were off, but the ones in the back were on. Sho wasn’t in his cubicle, and neither was Jun.  
  
“Oh, Aiba-san, you’re here.”  
  
Aiba was not entirely sure what to make of the situation.  
  
There was Nino sitting in his chair as usual, with the TV running and a controller in his lap. He looked over as Aiba stood in the doorway with his dumbfounded expression, and had the audacity to smirk.  
  
“Where is everyone?” Aiba asked, unsurely fingering the bag slung across his shoulder.  
  
“Oh. Well,” Nino said slowly, shifting in his chair but not looking any less full of himself, “If things went to plan, Sho took Jun to a ski resort in Nagano with the pass I gave him for Christmas.”  
  
Aiba was even more confused than before.  
  
“It was a free pass, anyway, and I don’t like skiing,” Nino added, his grin getting even more distinct. He was obviously enjoying himself right now.  
  
“…Why?” Aiba asked helplessly in return.  
  
“Because they needed a break. They’re hard workers you know!”  
  
Nino returned to the TV, as if that was all that needed to be said. Aiba watched him for another second, but he couldn’t think of anything else to do, so he just started his daily routine, dropping his bag off in Sho’s office and heading to the kitchen to turn on the coffee pot.  
  
“Oh, Aiba-kun,” Nino called, and Aiba turned his head. He’d been putting so much effort into avoiding Nino’s requests the last week that it was becoming second nature to hesitate every time. But Jun wasn’t here today and that was going to make avoiding Nino a bit more difficult…  
  
“Yes?” Aiba replied after Nino didn’t continue.  
  
Nino stood up so that Aiba could see him, and stepped towards to the partition to lean his elbows on it as he watched Aiba in return.  
  
“You’ll be helping _me_ today, so how about some coffee to start with?”  
  
Although Aiba had _already_ been preparing the coffee, he froze in realization. So _that’s_ what this was all about? Nino had taken Jun and Sho out of the picture for a day so that he could use Aiba as well as he pleased.  
  
Aiba inwardly cringed, wondering how in the world he was going to resist Nino’s demands in a situation like this.  
  
It was impossible.  
  
The time limit was basically up anyway, so Aiba caved in.  
  
“Yes, sir.”  
  
+++  
  
It took a lot for Aiba to get fed up with something, but he was just about there by eleven o’clock. The things Nino was having him do were pointless and mundane, as if was only asking in order to flex his control over Aiba.  
  
Revenge for Aiba ignoring him the past few weeks.  
  
They were indeed ahead of schedule, obviously enough to lose Jun and Sho for a day or two, but Aiba was sure there were more productive things to do than shred three year old bank statement with a pair of scissors while Nino watched.  
  
Aiba had been working in The Lair today, at Nino insistence since Ohno wouldn’t come in either and Nino was _lonely_. It wasn’t terrible, and under other circumstances he would have considered it a perfect time to get closer to Nino and put some sort of love plan into action.  
  
But this… this was just irritating.  
  
“How about dusting behind the TV? I don’t think it’s _ever_ been cleaned.”  
  
Somehow, _somehow_ , Aiba kept control of himself and went to get the cleaning supplies from the kitchen. While Nino continued to play, Aiba awkwardly began reaching behind the TV with a cleaning cloth--there was a heavy layer of dust, which made Aiba’s nose itch and only fueled his frustration.  
  
Five minutes later (he’d dragged it out as long as he could) Aiba put the cleaning supplies back in their place and thoroughly washed his hands before heading back to The Lair, wondering what Nino would come up with next.  
  
The second Aiba walked in Nino casually asked, “Could you bring that pillow over here and put it behind my back?” not taking his eyes off of the TV screen.  
  
Aiba clenched his jaw and took a deep breath through his nose. He walked over to the pile of bedding that he’d been using as a seat for the better part of the morning and picked up the indicated pillow, holding it out to Nino.  
  
Nino didn’t take it, only shifted as if to say, _you_ put it there.  
  
That was the last straw.  
  
Aiba dropped the pillow onto the floor and stood in front of Nino, towering over him, crouching down just enough that he could read Nino’s face properly.  
  
“You know what I think you need, Nino-san? A massage,” was all he said before he pounced, firming gripping Nino’s shoulders and _squeezing_.  
  
“Hey, that hurts—“ Nino complained, suddenly getting antsy and quite nervous from the look on his face. Served him right.  
  
“Massages are my specialty, right? Don’t worry, it won’t hurt for long,” Aiba said ominously, digging his long fingers into that spot on Nino’s back that had been tender last time, and he hit the mark on the head. Nino cried out in pain, his whole body twitching, and he tried to push Aiba away even if his arms were too weak.  
  
“Stop it!”  
  
“You’re obviously under a lot of pressure right now, _Nino-san_ ,” Aiba emphasized the title sarcastically. “Let me loosen you up…”  
  
That was enough to get Aiba’s initial frustration out, and sent his message across to Nino loud and clear. Aiba was willing to be polite up to a point, but he wasn’t going to let Nino walk all over him anymore. Not today and not anytime in the near future. If Nino wanted attention Aiba would give it to him, but on his own terms.  
  
So his hands relaxed a little and he started massaging seriously, his thumbs rubbing Nino’s neck and slowly traveling upwards. Nino seemed to have calmed down too, and looked up at him with glassy eyes, watery because of the suddenly jolt of pain a moment ago. Aiba felt a pang of regret, but he wouldn’t back down. If he did, Nino would take full advantage of the weakness.  
  
“Besides,” Aiba said slowly, _pointedly_. “I’ve been doing all of these nice things for you and still haven’t gotten another reward yet.”  
  
Nino’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, his lips parted in confusion. “What?”  
  
“Like last month, after the business meeting,” Aiba clarified, his hands gently massaging Nino’s ears on both sides. He was taking a chance with this, but Jun’s encouragement and the current situation had given Aiba a burst of rare courage. “A _reward_.”  
  
Realization dawned on Nino’s face, which turned bright red. He shifted a little as if to get away, but Aiba had a precise hold on him.  
  
“I think I deserve one,” he insisted, moving his face closer to Nino’s and he saw Nino resolve himself.  
  
Aiba certainly wasn’t going to take a kiss when it was Nino’s responsibility to give it to him, so he waited right there while Nino swallowed and slowly inched forward.  
  
Their lips met, but unlike last time when it had been a quick peck, Nino’s hesitation meant that all of his actions were slow. Now Aiba could actually make out what Nino’s mouth felt like.  
  
It was soft, and Aiba wanted more of it.  
  
Nino made an undignified sound when Aiba deepened the kiss and pushed him back in the arm chair, but willingly opened his mouth when Aiba’s tongue swept across his lips. Aiba didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation, pushing inside and tasting him. There was a bitter flavor from the two cups of coffee he’d had that morning, but Aiba didn’t imagine he was much better.  
  
Aiba didn’t mind. Nino was kissing him back with fever, as if he’d been penting it up for a long time, and Aiba knew for sure now that Jun had been completely right about everything.  
  
Suddenly it was far too hot in here for the sweater he was wearing.  
  
Aiba was overly excited and worked up at the realization of Nino’s reciprocation, and plowed ahead without thinking about it. His hands went from Nino’s neck straight down to the zipper on the hoodie Nino was wearing to keep warm, undoing it and pulling it open to get his hands inside. When his fingers slid against it, Nino’s chest heaved, radiating heat.  
  
Although there were a few things he wanted to say, Aiba didn’t want to pull his mouth away quite yet, enjoying Nino’s tongue against his too much. Besides, Nino was making a small sound in the back of his throat like _more, more_ , and the way it traveled into Aiba’s own mouth and through the rest of his body was only fueling the fire burning inside of him. He had to do something about it or he thought he might burst.  
  
His hands skimmed over Nino’s torso, but quickly found their way down his soft stomach and under the hem of his casual t-shirt. Nino was wiggling around, and shivered at the light touch, but grabbed the front of Aiba’s sweater to pull him closer. This time it was Nino was took the initiative, biting Aiba’s bottom lip softly, and pressing his hips up and against Aiba’s hands.  
  
The desire of wanting to _see_ Nino was too strong, and Aiba had to pull back, his eyes immediately traveling from Nino’s face down his body to get his fill. As expected, he was dazed, but looking up at Aiba, both insecure and aroused in the same expression.  
  
Slowly, and watching for any signs of hesitation, Aiba slid his fingers down and pulled slightly at the waist of the jeans Nino was wearing.  
  
Nino nodded slowly, his fingers tightening around the fabric of Aiba’s sweater.  
  
Without waiting for anything more, Aiba undid the button and fly of his jeans, almost laughing when he was met with a pair of blue leopard print briefs. A smile came out anyway, and Nino smacked him lightly on the head with a shy, disgruntled look.  
  
“Hey,” Aiba said, letting out a tiny chuckle and reveling in the way Nino flushed all the way to his ears. He was pouting and that was counter-productive to the sexiness going on here, so Aiba softened his expression and suggested in a lowered voice, “How about moving to the ‘bed’?”  
  
Nino didn’t reply, but Aiba tugged him out of the chair and pinned him on top of the pile of blankets, promptly kissing him again. His hands moved of their own accord, pushing Nino’s pants down his hips enough for room to maneuver, then ran over the shape of his erection through the loud briefs.  
  
“Ah,” Nino moaned softly, his mouth open wide enough for the sound to escape, despite Aiba sucking on his tongue. Aiba’s fingers teased for a moment, but they increased pressure gradually, until he was jerking him off rather lewdly, making Nino writhe underneath him.  
  
“Take it out,” Nino begged in a gasp against his lips, and Aiba shivered. He was just as hard, pressed uncomfortably against the front of his jeans.  
  
“Touch me too, then,” he countered, shifting up so that Nino had better access to his belt.  
  
Aiba stayed like that while Nino shifted his eyes down to Aiba’s waist hesitantly, both of them waiting for a tense moment. Eventually Nino reached down, though, his fingers fumbling with the lever buckle and top button of his pants, going slowly at first but speeding up with each second that ticketed by.  
  
When Nino touched him without warning through his briefs as well, Aiba’s breath caught. He had an automatic pang of worry, which happened whenever he didn’t breathe correctly, but pushed the thought away quickly to focus again on Nino.  
  
Aiba went back to touching him, one hand holding himself up while the other pulled back the elastic band of Nino’s briefs to let his cock slide out.  
  
“Shit,” Nino swore under his breath, but quickly did the same for Aiba, and Aiba looked down between their bodies to enjoy the view. They were both still fully clothed, except for their erections standing out and Nino’s shirt riding up to expose his lower stomach.  
  
It only took a fraction of an inch to touch Nino’s cock with his own, and when Aiba shifted, Nino’s body jerked underneath him.  
  
He sort of wanted to coax Nino into touching him again, but Aiba was becoming impatient so he just grabbed both of them together and began squeezing, enjoying not only the feel, but also the sight, of their cocks together.  
  
Nino moaned again, this time with less reservation, and Aiba looked at his face once to get his fill before kissing Nino’s neck softly. After searching a little, he found a spot that he liked and began sucking on it, grazing the skin with his teeth and becoming amused at the curse that Nino let out because of it.  
  
It didn’t take long. Both of them had been keeping their desire inside and repressed, and for Aiba at least, now that he had Nino in his arms, his body was out of his control.  
  
Nino came first, with a panting, scrunched up face and whimper of _Aiba_. He’d given up trying to return the touches a while ago, and just clung to Aiba’s broad shoulders, even after he’d ejaculated.  
  
Aiba used the bit of come that had stuck to his fingers to make things go smoother, but with Nino panting against his cheek, trembling, it didn’t make much stimulation until he came too, hard enough that he had to shut his eyes for a moment.  
  
He was out of breath as well, but it felt good, felt like he’d been out running, and Aiba reveled in the emotion for a moment before opening his eyes and realizing what they’d—what _he’d_ just done.  
  
But he didn’t apologize. That would be taking a step backwards.  
  
“Nino?” he asked instead, pulling away just enough to take in the other man’s features and try to figure out if he was in deep shit or not.  
  
Nino had closed his eyes too, but they fluttered open at Aiba’s voice, his pupils dilated and comfortable.  
  
“Hmm?” He made a questioning nose in the back of his throat that wasn’t very worried, but he seemed to be waking back up to reality and suddenly looked down between their bodies.  
  
Aiba did too and noticed right away. There was come all over Nino’s shirt and not anywhere else.  
  
“Ah, sorry about that,” Aiba commented, pushing himself up on his knees to find tissues or something… On the inside, he was freaking out, and he imagined Nino was going to make a bigger deal out of this than he needed to.  
  
Instead, Nino did something very different.  
  
“Hmph. Turn the heat on,” he told him casually, sitting up and pulling his hoodie the rest of the way off, which was quickly followed by his t-shirt. Nino stood up and adjusted his jeans while Aiba blatantly stared at his bare chest, which was smooth and very white. It air was a little cool, though, so Nino shivered, and promptly bent down to collect his hoodie and put it back on.  
  
Aiba scrambled to stand up, not sure what to do with this kind of Nino who wasn’t yelling at him. He tucked his dick back into his briefs and did up his pants with a painfully loud sound from the zipper, then darted into the corner to do as he had been directed and switch on the heater.  
  
For a second, he just stood there and stared at the wall. Nino hadn’t pushed him away, he reminded himself. Nino wanted this just like he did.  
  
When he turned back to him, Aiba was surprised to find his boss with his wallet in hand, pulling out three bills of money. He dropped the wallet onto the floor and stepped over to Aiba, holding out the cash—which was a pitiful amount if Nino was trying to pay him for what he had just done.  
  
Aiba looked at the money in confusion, but took it when Nino gestured for him to.  
  
“Go to the convenience store and buy some condoms and lube,” he directed. “And tissues,” was added as an afterthought before Nino retreated towards the pile of blankets.  
  
“What?” Aiba asked in surprise before he could stop himself, and Nino sent him a pointed look over his shoulder.  
  
“I’m not going out like this.” He indicated his hoodie, which dipped far enough down in front that Aiba could see the top part of his bare chest. Aiba continued to stare at him, his mind processing obvious implications of the directions and his libido coming back to life instantly.  
  
“And lock the door on your way back in,” Nino said in a tone of finality before flopping down in the pile of blankets and staring at Aiba expectantly.  
  
Aiba left without delay, not noticing that his belt was still undone until he was already outside and halfway down the block in the direction of the nearest convenience store.  
  
+++  
  
“I think,” Aiba said in an off-hand manner, “that was the best birthday present ever.”  
  
“It’s your birthday?” Nino replied in surprise, his eyes wide. The bottle of water Aiba had brought back with the condoms was posed halfway in front of his mouth. He’d been sipping at it for the last five minutes, despite reprimanding Aiba for wasting ‘his money’ on it.  
  
“Hmm,” he hummed a positive response. Aiba’s head was in the clouds, his body satisfied and a little tired from the bout of sex they’d just had in Nino’s makeshift bed. In the _office_.  
  
Well, he didn’t care right now. Let him think of propriety later.  
  
“My mom’s having a party, you should come,” he explained, his eyes dropping with mellowness.  
  
He wasn’t sure what the two of them were right now, but Aiba’s mind was gone far enough that he didn’t mind wrapping his arms around Nino’s waist and snuggling him. One of the blankets was in the way; Nino had pulled it over him as soon as they were finished, a bit tentative about letting Aiba examine his body so easily.  
  
Aiba, on the other hand, didn’t care. The temperature was up so high now that he was sweating despite being completely naked, sprawled out on the pile of blankets and more than halfway on top of Nino.  
  
“Tonight?” Nino asked unsurely, looking away from Aiba’s face, which was really close to his. Aiba thought it was cute and kissed his cheek happily.  
  
“Nino, will you go out with me?”  
  
“Properly follow the conversation, idiot!” Nino chided lightly and bopped him on the head.  
  
He didn’t add anything else, so Aiba waited for his answer with an unconscious smile on his face. Jun had said Nino was tentative about relationships, but they should at least give it a go after jumping each other like that in the middle of the day. He should at least come to the restaurant like Aiba would have invited him to even if they hadn’t had sex.  
  
“I… guess,” Nino sighed, as if there was no avoiding that answer.  
  
“Yay,” Aiba said happily, and hugged Nino tighter. Right now he was acting even worse than when he was drunk. Not only was he high off of sex, but just the fact that it was _Nino_ —Nino who had avoided him, Nino who had pushed him away. Nino was his now, even if there was a lot of work to do to make their relationship a proper one.  
  
“Come to my party?” Aiba added with a smile, kissing Nino again. This time it was on the neck and his lips lingered while Nino hesitated, probably trying to find a way to turn him down that wasn’t contrary to their new relationship status.  
  
“Free food,” Aiba tried to tantalize him, “Touma’s coming.”  
  
“Stupid Touma,” Nino mumbled--for no particular reason Aiba could come up with and that made him giggle. “Fine.”  
  
“Yay.” Aiba’s voice came out deeper this time, and he slowly ran his tongue up the shell of Nino’s ear, making his shiver with the unexpected action.  
  
“Stop that! Idiot!” Nino whined, but didn’t pull away.  
  
“There’s still more condoms,” Aiba replied, then chuckled as he fought Nino for the blanket covering him.  
  
+++  
  
Touma was already there when Aiba arrived at the otherwise empty restaurant that night, and he looked delighted that Nino was with him.  
  
“Well, well. Would you look at you two!” he said with a big grin that Aiba sent back right away. He was proud of his new thing with Nino, and grabbed Nino’s hand to show it. Of course Nino tugged his hand away in embarrassment, but Touma got the message and let out an impressed whistle.  
  
“Congratulations,” he commented, and reached out to shake Aiba’s hand in victory. Of course Aiba accepted, and enthusiastically gripped Touma’s hand in return.  
  
“It’s all thanks to you, Touma!” Aiba replied dramatically, pretending to wipe his eyes. But Nino finally got fed up with them, and hit them both on the head simultaneously—harder than normal.  
  
“Ow,” Touma whined at the same time as Aiba, but they still couldn’t help but share a look of amusement while Nino stomped off to escape them, forcefully looking at a few posters on the wall of the restaurant.  
  
“Masaki, is that you?” His mother’s voice came from the back and a second later she appeared through the kitchen door. “Welcome home! And Happy Birthday, honey.”  
  
“Thanks mom!” Aiba replied promptly, giving her his biggest smile, then walked over to grab Nino’s arm and pull him to the back to give a proper introduction. “This is Nino! He’s my bo—“  
  
Before he could finish, Nino whipped around and covered Aiba’s mouth with his hand. His face was flushed and posed in a look of horror. Aiba could tell what he was thinking. _We only decided to date a few hours ago, and you’re already telling your mother?!_  
  
Aiba gently grasped Nino’s hand by the wrist and pulled his arm away, giving him an assured look.  
  
“Boss, Nino,” he said in amusement, then returned his attention to his mother. “This is my boss.”  
  
“Oh my goodness,” his mother cooed, wringing her hands on the front of her apron. “You have no idea how grateful we are for giving our little Masaki a job.”  
  
“Mom,” Aiba whined, “Don’t start, please!” Even if he was really grateful to Nino himself, the last thing he needed was his mom embarrassing him in front of his new love interest.  
  
“I don’t mind taking care of your ‘little Masaki.’” At least Nino was smiling now, ready to return the teasing, and he even patted Aiba on the head for effect.  
  
Suddenly Touma broke out laughing behind them, breaking the intimate atmosphere, and Aiba’s mother chuckled too, looking at them with warm eyes. “Well, I’m just getting started on dinner now. Masaki, why don’t you boys stay out here until we’re ready? You can talk to your hearts’ content.”  
  
“I’d appreciate that, Mrs. Aiba!” Touma was the one to answer, giving Nino a pointed look.  
  
“Make yourselves at home,” she replied easily, and retreated into the back before anyone else could add something.  
  
As if it had been timed on purpose, the second Aiba’s mother had left, the front door opened with a quiet dinging sound from the bell on the frame, and the three men turned to see who it was.  
  
“Oh-chan!” Aiba grinned, unable to believe it was Ohno standing in the doorway. He’d try to call him twice, but Ohno hadn’t answered either time so he’d figured it was a lost cause.  
  
“Oh, I forgot to tell you I invited him,” Touma explained enthusiastically, striding over to meet Ohno as he walked in the door.  
  
“Touma,” Ohno sighed happily, wrapping his arms around Touma’s chest and taking a long hug from him. Touma, of course, returned the action with an amused chuckle. “I missed you!”  
  
“I saw you this morning!”  
  
“But that was so long ago,” Ohno replied without a hint of sarcasm.  
  
“No it wasn’t,” Touma assured him, twisting around so that he could pull Ohno towards Nino and Aiba with an arm around his shoulder.  
  
Ohno pouted a little, but as soon as noticed Nino and made eye contact, he suddenly smirked.  
  
Without a word, he glanced at Aiba next, his smile growing bigger, and commented, “I see.”  
  
Aiba was surprised he realized things that quickly, but Nino was the one to pout this time. “Oh-chan!!”  
  
“What?” Ohno teased him, snuggling into Touma’s side.  
  
The whole situation was funny, and Aiba couldn’t help but find it that way. He felt like he’d been out of the loop since he’d met these guys, and now suddenly he was let in and everything had become clearer.  
  
“I’ll grab some beer,” he told them, trying his best not to laugh. “Why don’t you guys sit down and we’ll have a nice, long talk.”  
  
+++  
  
It was afternoon the next day when Aiba’s phone started ringing, but he was still sleeping and it woke him up.  
  
Somehow he pulled himself out of his futon enough to reach where he’d left it on the floor last night, and barely answered it before it went to his voice mail.  
  
“Hello,” he got out in cottony voice, and took a big yawn. They had drunk a lot last night, as expected, and although he had woken up to use the bathroom a few hours ago, it had been easy to go back to bed. Especially with Nino right there next to him. (Fully clothed of course—there had been a lot of kissing once they’d gotten to Aiba’s room, but they were both too tired and drunk for anything else.)  
  
“Aiba-kun?” It was Jun’s voice on the other line. “Are you at the office?”  
  
“Nah,” he grumbled back, squinting his eyes shut against the light coming in from his window. “Ninosaidno,” what was he managed to get out in a slur. He wasn’t drunk anymore, but he was sure he sounded like it.  
  
“Well, that’s good. I’d feel guilty if we were the only ones to get yesterday and today off,” Jun replied quickly. “I hope Nino actually told you we were going to Nagano.”  
  
Aiba unconsciously smiled. As Nino was brought up in the conversation, he realized all of the new details he had to tell Jun, mostly about the fact that Nino had agreed to date him, despite whatever precarious circumstances that promise had been made under. And, well, the fact that Nino was right next to him, slowly stirring awake. He raised his hand to cover his eyes as well and burrowed further into Aiba’s side.  
  
Before he could get his slow brain working enough to get the words out, Jun was already continuing, either not noticing his fatigue or choosing to ignore it.  
  
“I _have_ to tell you about last night. Can I talk to you now?” he asked excitedly, and Aiba nodded before he realized his mistake.  
  
“Yes. Yes, please. Last night, yes.” The words came tumbling out, and he rubbed his eyes in hopes that that would help him wake up. Did something happen with Jun and Sho?  
  
“Well, uhm… first off all, Sho invited me to go skiing. He got a ticket from Nino—“  
  
“Yes, I know,” Aiba urged impatiently. “A room at the lodge, right?”  
  
“Yeah… It was… I mean, it’s a great place,” Jun stumbled over his words, as if he was dying to tell Aiba _everything_ and didn’t know where to start.  
  
“And?”  
  
“Sho is a failure at skiing,” Jun laughed, but Aiba was growing impatient. Nino had woken up a bit more and had pasted himself against Aiba’s side, craning his neck to listen to the phone conversation better.  
  
“Last night, Jun,” Aiba reminded him, his head clearing a bit.  
  
“We…” Jun lowered his voice, “ _did it_.”  
  
“Had sex?” Aiba asked blatantly, then abruptly smiled. “Really?!”  
  
“Ye-yes…” Jun’s voice turned shy, as if he didn’t want anyone on his end to overhear their conversation.  
  
Nino nudged him, and Aiba turned to look at his boss, who mouthed, _how was it_?  
  
“How was it?” Aiba asked, and switched the position of his phone so that Nino could hear as well.  
  
“ _Amazing_ ,” Jun sighed happily, giving up his cautious attitude. “I don’t know if you or Nino said something, but he was just like, ‘What do you want, Jun?’ Ahh, it was so sexy Aiba-chan, I can’t believe it, it’s like a dream come true!”  
  
“That’s great!” Aiba was grinning from ear to ear, glad that the fruits of his (and Nino’s?) hard work had paid off. _Finally_.  
  
“I don’t know how, but he’s totally ripped. He has a six-pack, it’s that incredible? And his _mouth_ , ah,” Jun let out a sound like he’d just eaten something heavenly. “I’ve always thought about kissing that mouth, but oh my God, what it did to me last night—“  
  
“Okay, this is too much!” Nino finally broke in with a smirk. “You sound like a virgin school girl!”  
  
“NINO?!” Jun yelled into the speaker, and Aiba had to pull it farther away from his ear, trying not to laugh. “Nino, why are you there?!” he demanded.  
  
“I have a lot to tell you too,” was all Aiba said.  
  
+++  
  
Aiba’s grandma was released from the hospital in January, five days after the successful launch of _Hatenai Sora Inc._ ’s game.  There were still bills to be paid, but her being at home generally lessened the stress on the whole family, and Aiba was sure that his life was perfect.  
  
“Cheers!”  
  
The five of them clinked their beers together with big smiles, and Aiba took a long swig of his. This seemed to be the physical manifestation of everything that needed right now, so very different from where he’d been a year ago.  
  
It was their celebration party for the release and all the work that had been put into it to finishing it in accordance with their new schedule. Nino sat in the middle of Ohno and Aiba, as usual, with Jun and Sho sitting across from them. (They had been so lovey-dovey in the office that Aiba would have been grossed out had he not been so happy for them instead. Nino preferred a more subtle relationship, and Aiba didn’t mind.)  
  
“The first order of business,” Nino declared, banging the napkin holder against the table like a gavel to their attention, “is to thank you all for your hard work on our latest project!”  
  
“I second that!” Jun shot in, raising his glass again, and they made another toast with a round of cheering. When they had finally calmed down, Nino raised his voice, and Aiba was amused that he was actually conducting their congratulatory drinking party like a meeting.  
  
“The next order of business! We’re splitting the bill tonight,” Nino said dramatically, and everyone but Ohno groaned.  
  
“Put it on the budget!” Jun argued, and Sho managed a _yeah!_ right before taking another gulp of his beer. Ever since the two of them had come back from the ski resort, Sho had been much more casual in the office, although not any less productive.  
  
“No and no,” Nino told them with a mock-serious expression, and didn’t allow the subject to linger any longer. Aiba just chuckled because he didn’t care either way. It was all teasing in the end, wasn’t it? Nino was so _cute_.  
  
Nino must have caught the way Aiba was looking at him, because he smacked him lightly on the head and added, “No to you too.”  
  
“Hey!” Aiba shot back, trying to act upset even though he was anything but. He wrapped one arm around Nino’s back, and when Nino pretended to push him away, it wasn’t with any strength at all.  
  
His arm stayed just like that while Nino started talking again, shifting closer to Aiba to get more comfortable.  
  
“The third order of business. I’m re-structuring the company,” he said as plainly as the other statements, but this time the table went quiet in shock, since none of them had heard anything about this. “You can type it up better later,” Nino told Jun, pulling out a wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket.  
  
He smoothed it out against the table, and started reading it out loud.  
  
“Ninomiya Kazunari: CEO and director. All powerful ruler of _Hatenai Sora Inc_.”  
  
Sho snickered and Jun repressed an amused expression, trying to pay attention despite the fact that they were all half-drunk already. No one made any comments, waiting until Nino was finished because they were all too curious about what changes he had planned.  
  
“Ohno Satoshi: art designer and freeloader,” Nino read, then turned to Ohno and added in a normal voice, “You can continue to come and go as you please.”  
  
“Thank you, Nino,” Ohno replied with a delighted grin, his eyes creasing shut a little to accommodate the width of it. Nino nodded and turned back to his paper.  
  
“Sakurai Sho: software formatter, accountant, consultant, administrative executive, and you’re new title, Jun’s secretary.”  
  
Sho’s mouth opened in a hearty laugh, and Jun choked in surprise on the beer he’d just drank.  
  
“ _What_?” Jun got out between coughs, but Nino ignored him in order to continue.  
  
“Matsumoto Jun: game tester, business negotiator, and ‘person who puts up with Nino.’ A.k.a. _Hatenai’s_ new vice-director.”  
  
“ _What_?!” Jun almost shouted his time, his mouth half open in shock. “Vice-director?!”  
  
“You’ll find the paperwork on your desk when you come in on Monday,” Nino replied calmly, glancing over his paper to make sure he didn’t forget anything. Aiba arched his neck to see what was written by his name, but before he could make it out, Nino folded it in half and handed it to Jun before turning to Aiba with a slightly more intimate expression.  
  
“Aiba Masaki,” he started, then paused for dramatic effect. He obviously knew how impatient Aiba was about the topic. “Public relations manager, human resources, and Mr. Budget. Oh, and part-time gopher slash masseuse,” Nino smirked, and Aiba would have kissed him right there to wipe the self-satisfied look off his face, except they were in public.  
  
Well, Aiba didn’t care that much so he kissed him anyway, receiving a cat-call from Jun and another _yeah!_ from Sho.  
  
It was a quick kiss, and once Aiba let him go, Nino hit him on the head, although he was still smiling widely, obviously please with his ‘re-structuring.’  
  
“I signed you up for a seminar,” Nino assured Aiba with a gentle pat on the head. “Go study up so you can win us some new contracts! Jun’s going with you, by the way.”  
  
“What? Why?” Jun demanded, still not recovered from the slew of changes Nino had decided to make without any hints at all.  
  
“Because you need to learn how to be a vice-director.”  
  
“I think _you_ learning how to be a _director_ is more important!” Jun replied incredulously, but a smile was threatening to break out on his face.  
  
“No, all directors have to do is boss people around.”  
  
“You’re good at that,” Ohno commented before any of the rest of them could, and after a moment of them all checking that Ohno had just said something, they all burst out laughing together.  
  
Excitement flooded Aiba’s veins, and he felt like yelling out, but managed to contain himself.  
  
Finally, a real position! (Well, several!)  
  
Now that they were starting a new project he was going to throw himself into it whole-heartedly. It had already been enough for him to be welcomed into the company, but now that he was dating Nino, Aiba couldn’t see a future any place else. He would do anything that was required of him for Nino and _Hatenai Sora Inc._  
  
“Stop getting worked up,” Sho teased him, and Aiba hadn’t noticed until now, but they were all staring at him and his eyes were watering.  
  
“I can’t help it,” Aiba grinned and roughly wiped his face. “You guys are all so great.” The combination of alcohol and Nino’s announcement was leaving him completely susceptible to the whims of his heart.  
  
“Stop that Aiba-chan,” Ohno whined, and when Aiba met his eyes, he saw that Ohno was getting worked up too. They both laughed, but continued sniffling and scrubbing at their faces.  
  
Aiba had almost composed himself until he noticed Nino watching him with obvious affection, and he broke out again.  
  
“Nino, I love you!” he exclaimed, and pulled Nino against him tightly in a hug, burying his nose in Nino’s neck.  
  
“Hey, get a room,” Jun teased them, avoiding the sappy look Sho was sending his way.  
  
“Well, if you all are finished being dramatic,” Nino commented with a smirk, pushing Aiba back a little so he could properly breathe. “I’d like to brainstorm about our next project.”  
  
+++  
  
Epilogue:  
  
 _The first time Nino fell in love was at the ripe age of fourteen._  
  
 _He’d never loved anything before, other than video games and money, so he didn’t understand the feeling in the beginning, particularly due to the unusual circumstances._  
  
 _“I can’t believe it!” Touma suddenly perked up next to him, his goofy smile as wide as ever. They had been waiting in the dugout for the second match of the regional semi-finals, and needless to say, Nino was nervous. It was only his second official game, and he didn’t feel that he was particularly good at baseball. He didn’t love it, but he had some affection for the sport, and had only joined the club at Jun’s prompting._  
  
 _Jun, seated on Nino’s other side, followed Touma’s line of sight to the field, where a boy was waving as he walked across home plate towards them._  
  
 _“That’s him! Aiba, the friend I was telling you guys about! I knew he’d be here today,” Touma explained enthusiastically. With a grin he stood up and darted out of the dugout to meet the other boy, whose name Nino could barely recall._  
  
 _But Jun obviously knew, because he stood up too, wringing his hands together and shifting his feet nervously. “Aiba Masaki…The ultimate hitter from Chiba…” he said solemnly, with a far too open expression on his face. Nino scoffed at Jun’s reaction, but he couldn’t quite pull his eyes away from where Touma and Aiba had just met to shake hands happily._  
  
 _Aiba? He looked like an idiot with that over exaggerated smile and joyful glow, like there was nowhere else he’d rather be than here._  
  
 _When Touma turned to point to the dugout, Nino blushed and looked away, feeling completely embarrassed, wondering why his heart was pouting so hard._  
  
 _“Nino, come on! I want to meet him!”_  
  
 _“Hell no! Go by yourself!” he shot back without thinking, folding his arms across his chest and pouting._  
  
 _Jun gave him an unsure look, but it was obvious he wasn’t about to give up his chance, and took off towards Touma in the middle of the field, already used to Nino’s occasionally moody behavior._  
  
 _After a moment, Nino’s curiosity got the better of him and he looked back, seeing Jun with his bright_ stupid _smile, shaking the hand of the boy that looked just as bright and just as stupid._  
  
 _Nino’s mood only declined after that, part of him regretting not going with Jun and part of him chiding himself for even having that thought in the first place. No matter what, he wouldn’t go back on his decision, but the regret only deepened once the baseball match got started and he actually saw Aiba in action._  
  
 _His swing was perfect, but the thing that really stuck in Nino’s memory, even more than ten years later, was the smile on Aiba’s face as he made a homerun in the seventh inning. It was quite possibly the most moving expression he’d ever seen, and he was ashamed to be so affected by something so simple and stupid._  
  
 _After the game, he left quickly to avoid Aiba, as well as Touma and Jun. They interpreted that as depression for losing the match, but in reality Nino could have cared less about that part. He just wanted to be alone and think about things that had transpired._  
  
 _Touma offered to bring Aiba to one of their get-togethers a week later, but Nino flat out refused. Maybe if he forgot about Aiba this “thing” would go away._  
  
 _But, unfortunately, he was never able to forget._

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I don't pretend to know anything about video games or how they are made. I just wrote what's logical. >_>
> 
> This thing got out of control. I meant for it to be a oneshot, but I started it last year and couldn't finish it. I was having problems writing the last few months and only wrote a few scenes at a time, and when I was able to write again I realized what kind of a hole I dug myself. Will be updating the next chapters here on AO3 as I have time to.


End file.
